Romans Read the Titan's Curse
by FanFictionLover13
Summary: Reyna, Gwen, Hazel, Frank, Dakota, Octavian, and Nico read the Titan's Curse all thanks to Juno/Hera/. R&R please? rated T just to be safe
1. Getting the Books

**Hey peeps! And no, not the candy. ^^**

**This is my first Roman story, so please be nice?**

**Thanks! ^^**

* * *

At Camp Jupiter, Reyna was pacing back and forth in her room.

She was worried sick. Jason had disappeared just a few weeks ago, and had no idea where he was.

But, then Reyna had a an idea.

The Ambassador of Pluto, Nico di Angelo, travels around the country a lot. Maybe, just maybe, he would know where Jason is.

Reyna walked over to the door, but was engulfed in a bright light before she could even touch the doorknob.

Little did she know, the same thing was happening to several other people around camp.

* * *

Reyna landed on her face in the middle of a grassy field.

"Ow," she said, getting up on her feet. "Where am I?"

Suddenly, the field got covered in white smoke.

Reyna got into a defensive position, but relaxed as Gwen, Dakota, Hazel, Frank, and Octavian stepped out of the smoke, coughing.

"R-Reyna?" Gwen coughed. "I-is that y-you?"

"Yeah," Reyna answered, waving the smoke away with her hand. "It's me."

The smoke finally dispersed, everyone stopped coughing.

"Did you bring us here, Praetor?" Frank asked.

Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"First, call me Reyna," she said, and Frank nodded. "And second, no I didn't."

Before anyone else could say anything, there was a bright light.

Everyone averted their eyes, and the light died down.

"Lady Juno." Reyna gasped, then kneeled, everyone else following her lead.

"Rise, demigods." Juno said, and they did so.

"Did you bring us here, Lady Juno?" Hazel asked.

"Yes, I did." Juno replied.

"May I ask why, Lady Juno?" Reyna said.

"I have brought you here to read 4 books about a hero." Juno answered. "Outside of this area, time is frozen so no one will notice that you are gone. Later, the books that you read will be in the mortal world. Here are the books." she snapped her fingers, and 4 books appeared on the ground, one smaller than the others. "And here comes our other guest."

And with that, she disappeared.

"What does she mean by 'another guest'?" Dakota said, drinking from his canteen full of kool-aid.

Before anyone else could answer, the sky darkened a bit, and there was a wind blow.

Everyone instinctively reached for their weapons, only to find that they were gone.

"Where are our weapons!" Reyna exclaimed, searching for her sword.

"Maybe Lady Juno didn't want us to fight with each other." Hazel suggested.

Suddenly, a patch of darkness passed over the clearing and a boy tumbled out of it like he'd been tossed, landing in the grass at their feet.

"Ow!" he muttered.

He stood up and brushed off his aviator's jacket. He was about thirteen years old, with dark hair, jeans, and a black t-shirt, and a silver skull ring on his right hand. A sword hung at his side.

"_Nico_?" Hazel said, eyes wide.

The boy got up, dusted himself off, then looked around.

"Hazel?" he said, rubbing his head injury from the fall. "Where am I?"

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"I got this." Dakota slurred, taking another swig of kool-aid.

He walked up to Nico, swung an arm around his neck, and said, "We, are on Earth."

Gwen face-palmed as Nico raised an eyebrow and said, "I figured as much. I mean, where are we exactly?"

"We're not sure ourselves." Gwen said. "We only know that Juno sent us here."

"He-I mean Juno sent us here?" Nico said, almost saying 'Hera' instead of 'Juno'.

Reyna looked suspiciously at Nico, who continued as if nothing had happened.

"Why?" he asked.

"We're going to read 4 books about some hero." Frank answered, as Hazel, who also noticed Nico's slip-up, sent him a confused look.

"Who?" Nico asked, trying to ignoring the looks Reyna and Hazel were giving him. "And Dakota? Please move your arm."

"Sure." Dakota slurred, then moved away.

Gwen sighed, then took Dakota's canteen away.

"Hey!" Dakota whined. "Give that ba-ack!"

Gwen just rolled her eyes, and emptied the canteen in a bush.

"Does that happen often?" Nico asked, looking at Gwen and Dakota.

"If you were here and training like a _real_ Roman, maybe you know." Octavian sneered, looking at Nico like he was a piece of trash.

Nico just stared back at him, coldly.

Octavian sneered and was about to remind Nico that he was his superior, and he should respect him, when Reyna said, "To answer your question from earlier, Nico. His name is," she picked a book from the pile. "Percy Jackson."

For a second, Nico paled and looked almost scared, then he regained his posture and said, "And I'm here, why?"

Everyone shrugged, and Reyna sat down, with everyone following her lead.

Nico sighed, seeing as he had no choice, and sat down next to Hazel and Octavian.

_Guess I'll just have to ask Nico about Jason later._ Reyna thought, inwardly sighing.

"Who's going to read first?" Hazel asked, holding up the 1st book.

"I will." Reyna said, then took the book from Hazel. "This book is called, The Titan's Curse."

Nico paled again, making his skin paler than usual.

_Oh, no._ he thought. _They're going to find out that I'm a Greek! And I'm going to hear how my sister died. Great, just great. Thanks a lot Hera, thanks a lot._

"**My Rescue Operation Goes Very Wrong**" Reyna read.

Nico inwardly groaned.

* * *

**Review and I'll try and update as soon as possible!**


	2. My Resuce Operation Goes Very Wrong

**Me: Hey! ^^ Thanks for all those who reviewed!**

**Percy: That made RGW really happy!**

**Nico: And me! ^^**

**Me: Nico, if you would do the honors**

**Nico: RGW doesn't own anything, no matter how much she wants to! **

**Me: *pouts***

* * *

"**My Rescue Operation Goes Very Wrong**" Reyna read.

Nico inwardly groaned.

"Well, doesn't that sound like a great start." Gwen said, sarcastically.

**The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons **

"Is this a demigod?" Octavian asked.

"You could say that." Nico mumbled, but Hazel still heard him, and shot him a confused look, which he ignored.

**and took me to a new boarding school. We picked up my friends Annabeth and Thalia on the way.**

Reyna narrowed her eyes. Annabeth and Percy sounded too familiar.**  
**

**It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn't seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much. Except for my mom. **

"This'll be good." Dakota said, rubbing his hands together, and Gwen rolled her eyes.

**She talks more when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about me. **

Everyone, sans Octavian and Reyna, burst out laughing.

Yes, even the son of 'Pluto'.

**Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh, yeah. This'll be fun."  
**

"Oh yes, real fun." Hazel said.**  
**

**Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. **

"Cool."

**It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.  
**

Everyone, minus Nico, frowned at the mention of the ocean.**  
**

**"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" my mother asked.  
**

**"No, thanks, Mom," I said. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."  
**

**"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."  
**

"Awww." the girls, minus Reyna, cooed. "That's so sweet!"

The guys, minus Octavian, snickered, or in Nico's case, smirked.**  
**

**I hoped I wasn't blushing. **

"Probably was."

**It was bad enough I had to depend on my mom to drive me to my battles.  
**

**"It's okay, Ms. Jackson." Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blond hair was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color as the ocean. **

Reyna sighed inwardly, frustrated. Annabeth sounded _so_ familiar!

**"We'll keep him out of trouble."  
**

_Like that'll ever happen._ Nico thought, inwardly snorting.**  
**

**My mom seemed to relax a little. She thinks Annabeth is the most levelheaded demigod ever to hit eighth grade. **

"Eighth grade?" the Romans echoed.

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" Frank frowned.

"They should be." Reyna said, also frowning.

**She's sure Annabeth often keeps me from getting killed. She's right, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.  
**

**"All right, dears," my mom said. "Do you have everything you need?"  
**

**"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."  
**

**"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"  
**

**"Mom—"  
**

**"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?" **

"There _is_ such thing as being _too_ worried."

**"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."  
**

"That wasn't very nice." Gwen frowned.**  
**

**She looked a little hurt, and I was sorry about that, but I was ready to be out of that car.  
**

**If my mom told one more story about how cute I looked in the bathtub when I was three years old, I was going to burrow into the snow and freeze myself to death.  
**

Everyone, minus the obvious, snickered again.**  
**

**Annabeth and Thalia followed me outside. The wind blew straight through my coat like ice daggers.  
**

**Once my mother's car was out of sight, Thalia said, "Your mom is so cool, Percy."  
**

"Think she was being sarcastic?" Hazel said.**  
**

**"She's pretty okay," I admitted. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"  
**

Nico winced. He probably shouldn't have said that. Just probably.**  
**

**As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't. Thalia was great at giving evil looks, what with the punk clothes she always wears—the ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, the black eyeliner and those intense blue eyes. But the look she gave me now was a perfect evil "ten."  
**

"That sounds creepy." Dakota said. "Even creepier than Nico."

Nico rolled his eyes, as Hazel snickered.**  
**

**"If that was any of your business, Percy—"  
**

**"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted. "Grover will be waiting."**

"Who's Grover?" Octavian asked.

"Well, maybe, just maybe," Reyna said. "If you let me read, you would find out!"

Everyone else snickered, as Octavian flushed and glared.

**Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."  
**

**I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "Nothing good," I guessed.  
**

"No, really?"**  
**

**The oak doors groaned open, and the three of us stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow.  
**

**All I could say was, "Whoa."  
**

**The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. **

"That sounds awesome!" Frank said.

**I mean, I knew Westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. Literally.  
**

"That was so lame." Nico said, rolling his eyes.**  
**

**My hand went to my pocket, where I kept my lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide. **

"How could a _ballpoint pen_ be lethal?" Dakota said.

Everyone else shrugged, except Nico, who knew.

**I could already sense something wrong in this place. Something dangerous. Thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet, her favorite magic item. I knew we were thinking the same thing. A fight was coming.  
**

**Annabeth started to say, "I wonder where—"  
**

**The doors slammed shut behind us.  
**

**"Oo-kay," I mumbled. "Guess we'll stay awhile." I could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music.  
**

"Dance music that creepy place?" Hazel said.**  
**

**We stashed our overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. We hadn't gone very far when I heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept us.  
**

"Not good."

"Ya think?"**  
**

**They both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache,**

"Eww!"

**and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to me. **

Everyone snorted at that.

**They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.  
**

**"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"  
**

"Walking, why?" Nico said, and Hazel snorted.**  
**

**"Um…" I realized I hadn't planned for this. I'd been so focused on getting to Grover and finding out what was wrong, I hadn't considered that someone might question three kids sneaking into the school at night. **

"Idiot." Reyna mumbled.

**We hadn't talked at all in the car about how we would get inside. I said, "Ma'am, we're just—"  
**

**"Ha!" the man snapped, which made me jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"  
**

**He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's.  
**

"Monster." several people said.**  
**

**I figured he was about to toss us into the snow, but then Thalia stepped forward and did something very weird. She snapped her fingers. **

"Oh, yes." Nico said, mystically. "I shall snap my fingers, and you shall be weirded out."

"She's manipulating the Mist, you idiot." Hazel said, rolling her eyes.

"Ya think I didn't know that?"

**The sound was sharp and loud. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of us, making the banners rustle on the walls.  
**

"Will we learn that?" Frank asked.

"No," Reyna said. "Even I don't know how to do that."**  
**

**"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth and Percy. We're in the eighth grade."  
**

**The male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. I didn't know what Thalia was thinking. Now we'd probably get punished for lying and thrown into the snow. But the man seemed to be hesitating.  
**

**He looked at his colleague. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"  
**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Seriously? A teacher name Got Chalk?" Gwen said, laughing.

Nico had to refrain from answering.**  
**

**Despite the danger we were in, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. A teacher named Got Chalk? **

"You think like Percy!" Dakota accused, pointing at Gwen, who rolled her eyes.

**He had to be kidding.  
**

**The woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "I… yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at us. "Annabeth. Thalia. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"  
**

"Breathing."

"Shut up, Nico!"

"Ow! Ya didn't have to hit me!"

"Apparently I did, unless you wouldn't shut up!"

"Can I continue?" Reyna asked, biting her tongue to keep from laughing.

Hazel and Nico flushed, and nodded, shrugging sheepishly.

Octavian muttered something about 'stupid children of Pluto'.**  
**

**Before we could answer, I heard more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless. **

**"You made it! You—" He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"  
**

"Gee, great timing!"

"I swear to the gods, Nico, if you don't shut up-"

"Alright, alright! I'll be quiet!"**  
**

**"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."  
**

_Here comes another infamous Grover lie._ Nico said, inwardly chuckling.**  
**

**Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I'm so glad they made… the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"  
**

"That was so lame!"**  
**

**Dr. Thorn glared at us. I decided one of his eyes had to be fake. The brown one? The blue one? **

"Did he seriously just think that?" Gwen said.

**He looked like he wanted to pitch us off the castle's highest tower, but then Mrs. Gottschalk said dreamily, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"  
**

**We didn't wait to be told twice. We left with a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.  
**

Dakota snorted.**  
**

**Grover hustled us down the hall in the direction of the music.  
**

**I could feel the teachers' eyes on my back, but I walked closely to Thalia and asked in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?"  
**

"Easy, like this." Nico snapped his fingers, and several people snorted.

Hazel just rolled her eyes and whacked the back of Nico's head.

"Would you stop hitting me!" Nico exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Not until you shut up and stop interrupting Reyna!"**  
**

**"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?"  
**

"Hang on," Octavian said, holding up a hand. "Chiron? As in the trainer of Hercules?"

"It can't be." Reyna frowned.**  
**

**An uncomfortable lump formed in my throat. Chiron was our head trainer at camp, **

"Camp?" everyone, minus Nico, echoed.

"What camp?" Octavian said. "It's obviously not this camp."

Everyone else shrugged, except Nico who already knew.

**but he'd never shown me anything like that. Why had he shown Thalia and not me? Grover hurried us to a door that had GYM written on the glass. Even with my dyslexia, I could read that much.  
**

**"That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!"  
**

"They must be demigods." Dakota said.

Nico opened his mouth to say something, then closed it seeing the look Hazel was giving him.**  
**

**Annabeth and Thalia both hugged Grover. I gave him a big high five.  
**

**It was good to see him after so many months. He'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human—  
**

"What?" everyone said, except the obvious.**  
**

**a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. **

"A faun!" Gwen exclaimed. "But, why is he there?"

**He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure whether that was, like, Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.  
**

"Most likely the rank." Nico said, already knowing the right answer.**  
**

**"So what's the emergency?" I asked.  
**

**Grover took a deep breath. "I found two."  
**

**"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed. "Here?"  
**

Nico shifted. They would find out soon.**  
**

**Grover nodded.  
**

**Finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, **

"Why did they say satyrs instead of fauns?" Reyna said, confused.

"Maybe...maybe there's a Greek camp somewhere?" Gwen said, pausing slightly.

It was silent for a moment, then everyone, minus Nico, burst out laughing.

"A-as if!" Octavian laughed. "Greeks being smart enough to make a camp? Ha!"

After a few moments, the Romans where done laughing, and Reyna continued, as Nico shifted again.

**scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there.  
**

**"A brother and a sister," **

Sadness crept into Nico.

Bianca...

**he said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."  
**

**"Monsters?"  
**

**"One." Grover looked nervous. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"**

"It's probably Dr. Thorn." Hazel said.**  
**

**Grover looked at Thalia desperately. I tried not to feel upset by that. Used to be, Grover looked to me for answers, but Thalia had seniority. Not just because her dad was Zeus. **

"Why do they keep using Greek names for everything?" Octavian frowned.

Nico shifted.

**Thalia had more experience than any of us with fending off monsters in the real world.  
**

"Someone's jealous!" Dakota sung.**  
**

**"Right," she said. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"  
**

**Grover nodded.  
**

**"Then let's dance," Thalia said. "Who's the monster?"  
**

**"Oh," Grover said, and looked around nervously. "You just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."  
**

Hazel smiled, seeing that she was right.**  
**

**Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something.  
**

"That sucks."

_You have know idea._ Nico thought.**  
**

**There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each others faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. **

"We should have parties!" Dakota exclaimed.

**Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices. Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. **

"Poor guy." the guys sighed, Nico because he knew the guy.

**Some of the older guys looked more like me—uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in my case, it was true… **

**"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. **

Nico held his breath.

**"Bianca and Nico di Angelo."  
**

Reyna set the book down, and looked at Nico along with everyone else.

Nico shifted.

"Is there something that you would like to tell us?" Reyna said.

"No, not really." Nico said, quickly.

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

"Yeah."

"There is something?

"No."

"No?"

"Yea-argh! You know what I mean!" Nico finally exclaimed.

"Nico." Hazel said, firmly. "Look at me."

Nico reluctantly looked at her.

"Are you Roman or Greek?" she asked.

"Uh..."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Nico, just spit it out already. You're not fooling anyone."

"Um, yeah...I'm Greek." Nico said, looking and feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Octavian gasped, and exclaimed in a girly voice, "TRAITOR!"

Nico looked at Octavian like he was insane.

"I'm a Greek not a traitor. Get your facts straight." Nico said.

"SPY!" Octavian screeched, pointing at finger at Nico.

"Hey!" Hazel shouted, and everyone looked at her. "How about we hear my brother's side of the story before we jump to conclusions!"

"Hazel." Reyna said, and she looked at her. "You're still willing to stand up for Nico, even thought he admitted he was Greek?"

Hazel shifted, then nodded.

"Interesting..." Reyna said, nodding.

"Anyways, Nico?" Hazel said, looking at Nico, who was trying to slip into the shadows and shadow travel away. She grabbed the hood of his jacket and pulled his away from the shadows. "Oh, no. You're not going anywhere. I want to hear your story too."

"Alright," Nico sighed, sitting back down. "Okay, so there is a Greek camp. I'm not accepted there because I'm a son of Hades, so I travel around a lot."

Hazel frowned at that.

"That's how I found Camp Jupiter. I'm not a spy or a traitor, Octavian. And one of my best friends is Percy. I tend to stay at Camp Half-Blood more, because I'm Greek. Oh! Camp Half-Blood is what the Greek camp is called."

Everyone still looked dubious, and he sighed.

"I repeat, I am not a spy or a traitor. I just came here accidentally, and found Hazel along the way. So, can we just continue with the book?"

Reyna sighed, seeing as he made sense, and sat down.

Everyone else followed her lead, Octavian still suspicious of Nico, and she started to read.**  
**

**The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards.**

Everyone raised their eyebrows at Nico, and he blushed and muttered something inadequate.

**His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.  
**

**Annabeth said, "Do they… I mean, have you told them?"  
**

**Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."  
**

**He looked at me, and I nodded. I'd never really understood what half-bloods "smell" like to monsters and satyrs, but I knew that your scent could get you killed. **

**And the more powerful a demigod you became, the more you smelled like a monster's lunch.  
**

"That's funny way to put it." Hazel said.**  
**

**"So let's grab them and get out of here," I said.  
**

**I started forward, but Thalia put her hand on my shoulder. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.**

Reyna narrowed her eyes, and stole a glance at Nico, who was still a little red from earlier.**  
**

**Judging from his expression, I guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were. He was just waiting to see why we were here.  
**

**"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."  
**

**"How?"  
**

**"We're three powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."  
**

"Yeah, did a great job on that." Nico breathed.**  
**

**"Dancing?" Annabeth asked.  
**

**Thalia nodded. She cocked her ear to the music and made a face. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"**_**(1)**_**  
**

"What's wrong with Jesse McCartney?" Gwen said.**  
**

**Grover looked hurt. "I did."  
**

**"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"  
**"Green who?" Nico said, not familiar with them.

"How could you _not_ know who Green Day is?" Frank said.

Nico shrugged.

But Hazel knew. Green Day wasn't around in the 40s.**  
**

**"Green who?"  
**

"At least I'm not the only one who doesn't know who Green Day is." Nico said.**  
**

**"Never mind. Let's dance."  
**

**"But I can't dance!"  
**

"You can say that again." Nico snorted.**  
**

**"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said. "Come on, goat boy."  
**

"What do you think the fauns would do if we called them goat boy?" Dakota said, thoughtfully.

"Probably trample you." Gwen said, and Dakota pouted.**  
**

**Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.  
**

**Annabeth smiled. **

**"What?" I asked.  
**

**"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back."  
**

"Back?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, yeah. Did I forget to mention that?" Nico said, smiling sheepishly. "Thalia used to be a tree."

"What?" everyone said, yes, even Octavian. It's that weird.

"Um...from what I know, 5 years before Percy got to camp, Thalia, Annabeth, and Luke were being chased by monsters towards Half-Blood Hill. Thalia sacrificed herself for the others, and fought the monsters. Right before she died, Zeus...Jupiter for you guys, her dad, took pity on her, and transformed her into a tree. The end!" he finished.

Silence...

"Woah." Dakota breathed. "That's cool.**  
**

**Annabeth had grown taller than me since last summer, which I found kind of disturbing.  
**

Nico snorted.

"What are you laughing about," Hazel teased. "I'm taller than you, don't you find that disturbing?"

Nico blushed, and mock-glared at her as the others snickered, seeing it was true.**  
**

**She used to wear no jewelry except for her Camp Half-Blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls—the symbol of her mother, Athena. She pulled off her ski cap, and her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders. It made her look older, for some reason.  
**

**"So…" I tried to think of something to say. Act natural, Thalia had told us. When you're a half-blood on a dangerous mission, what the heck is natural? "Um, design any good buildings lately?"  
**

"That'll get her excited." Nico said, rolling his eyes.**  
**

**Annabeth's eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture. "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program…"**_**(2)**_

"That's cool." Reyna said.**  
**

**She went on to explain how she'd designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She talked about structural supports and facades and stuff, and I tried to listen. I knew she wanted to be a super architect when she grew up—she loves math and historical buildings and all that—but I hardly understood a word she was saying.  
**

"Neither do I most of the time." Nico snorted.**  
**

**The truth was I was kind of disappointed to hear that she liked her new school so much. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York. I'd been hoping to see her more often. It was a boarding school in Brooklyn, and she and Thalia were both attending, close enough to Camp Half-Blood that Chiron could help if they got in any trouble. Because it was an all-girls school, and I was going to MS-54 in Manhattan, I hardly ever saw them.  
**

**"Yeah, uh, cool," I said. "So you're staying there the rest of the year, huh?"  
**

**Her face got dark. "Well, maybe, if I don't—"  
**

"Don't what?"**  
**

**"Hey!" Thalia called to us. She was slow dancing with Grover,**

Nico burst out laughing. It was just so funny watching that.

Everyone looked at him, weirdly, but he just shook his head and said, "Y-you'd have to have b-been there." he laughed.

**who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. At least his feet were fake. Unlike me, he had an excuse for being clumsy.  
**

**"Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."  
**

**I looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym.  
**

"Did he seriously just do that?" Gwen groaned.**  
**

**"Well?" Annabeth said.  
**

**"Um, who should I ask?"  
**

"Idiot." Gwen groaned.**  
**

**She punched me in the gut. "Me, Seaweed Brain."  
**

"Seaweed Brain?" Hazel said, raising her eyebrow. "Any other nicknames?"

"Kelp Brain." Nico answered.

"Thalia?"

"Pinecone Face."

"Annabeth?"

"Wise Girl."

"You?"

Silence...

"Well?" Hazel smirked.

Everyone looked at Nico, who was red again.

"I'm waiting." Hazel sang.

"Death Breath, Zombie Dude, Death Boy..." he kept going on, till Hazel put a hand.

"How many nicknames do you have?" she asked.

Nico shrugged, still red.**  
**

**"Oh. Oh, right." So we went onto the dance floor, and I looked over to see how Thalia and Grover were doing things. I put one hand on Annabeth's hip, and she clasped my other hand like she was about to judo throw me.  
**

Everyone snickered.**  
**

**"I'm not going to bite," she told me. "Honestly, Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school?"  
**

**I didn't answer. The truth was we did. But I'd never, like, actually danced at one. I was usually one of the guys playing basketball in the corner.  
**

**We shuffled around for a few minutes. I tried to concentrate on little things, like the crepe-paper streamers and the punch bowl—anything but the fact that Annabeth was taller than me, and my hands were sweaty and probably gross, and I kept stepping on her toes.  
**

"Smooth." Nico said, snickering.**  
**

**"What were you saying earlier?" I asked. "Are you having trouble at school or something?"  
**

**She pursed her lips. "It's not that. It's my dad."  
**

**"Uh-oh." I knew Annabeth had a rocky relationship with her father. "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your stepmom again?"  
**

**Annabeth sighed. "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In San Francisco!" **

"What's wrong with San Francisco?" Octavian frowned. It was were Camp Jupiter was anyway.

**She said this the same way she might say **_**Fields of Punishment**_** or **_**Hades's gym shorts**_**.  
**

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed, insulted. "What's wrong with my dad's gym shorts?"

Everyone snickered at how weird that sounded.**  
**

**"So he wants you to move out there with him?" I asked. "To the other side of the country," she said miserably. "And half-bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that."  
**

"That's not true." Reyna frowned. "We live here after all."**  
**

**"What? Why not?"  
**

**Annabeth rolled her eyes. Maybe she thought I was kidding. "You know. It's right there!' **

**"Oh," I said. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I didn't want to sound stupid.  
**

"He always sounds stupid." Nico said, rolling his eyes.**  
**

**"So… you'll go back to living at camp or what?"  
**

**"It's more serious than that, Percy. I… I probably should tell you something."  
**

**Suddenly she froze. "They're gone."  
**

"Aww, Nico! Why'd ya have to disappear _now_?" Dakota complained.**  
**

**"What?"  
**

**I followed her gaze. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight. **

**"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" Annabeth looked around frantically. "Oh, where'd they dance off to? **

Nico snickered. It just sounded so funny.

**Come on!"  
**

**She ran through the crowd. I was about to follow when a mob of girls got in my way. I maneuvered around them to avoid getting the ribbon-and-lipstick treatment, **

Nico laughed. That would have been so funny.

**and by the time I was free, Annabeth had disappeared. I turned a full circle, looking for her or Thalia and Grover. Instead, I saw something that chilled my blood.  
**

**About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. **

"Are you going to tell us about the cards _now_?" Dakota complained.

"No." Nico said, groaning, remembering how excited he was when found out he was a demigod.

**Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.  
**

Nico rubbed his neck. That had hurt.**  
**

**I still couldn't see Annabeth, but I knew she'd be heading the other way, looking for Thalia and Grover.****  
**

**I almost ran after her, and then I thought, **_**Wait**_**.  
**

**I remembered what Thalia had said to me in the entry hall, looking at me all puzzled when I asked about the finger-snap trick: Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet? I thought about the way Grover had turned to her, expecting her to save the day. Not that I resented Thalia. She was cool. **

"She's awesome!" Nico exclaimed.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Gwen asked.

"W-what? No!" Nico spluttered.

"Suuuure, Nico." Hazel said, smirking. "You know you're a horrible liar, right?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Nico exclaimed. "And besides, even if I did like her, I couldn't date here!"

"Why not?" Dakota asked.

"Her dad is Zeus, my dad is Hades." was all Nico said. Though the real reason was because she's a Hunter.

**It wasn't her fault her dad was Zeus and she got all the attention… Still, I didn't need to run after her to solve every problem. Besides, there wasn't time. The di Angelos were in danger. They might be long gone by the time I found my friends. I knew monsters. I could handle this myself I took Riptide out of my pocket and ran after Dr. Thorn. The door led into a dark hallway. I heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. **

"What happened?" Hazel asked, worried for Nico.

Nico didn't say anything.

"Nico, what happened." Hazel said.

"He might have hit me in the stomach." Nico mumbled.

Hazel narrowed her eyes.

**I uncapped Riptide.  
**

**The pen grew in my hands until I held a bronze Greek sword about three feet long with a leather-bound grip. The blade glowed faintly, casting a golden light on the rows of lockers.  
**

"Isn't that similar to Imperial gold?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, it's very rare." Reyna frowned. "How did you get it?" she asked Nico.

Nico shrugged.

"THEIF!" Octavian shrieked, pointing a finger at Nico.

Nico looked at Octavian like he was crazy.

"How could I steal it without you noticing?" he asked.

Octavian didn't have anything to say to that.**  
**

**I jogged down the corridor, but when I got to the other end, no one was there. I opened a door and found myself back in the main entry hall. I was completely turned around. I didn't see Dr. Thorn anywhere, but there on the opposite side of the room were the di Angelo kids.  
**

**They stood frozen in horror, staring right at me.  
**

"We weren't staring at you, Kelp Brain." Nico muttered. "We were staring at Dr. Thorn who was behind you."**  
**

**I advanced slowly, lowering the tip of my sword. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."  
**

**They didn't answer. Their eyes were full of fear. What was wrong with them? **

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed, as everyone else snickered.

**Where was Dr. Thorn? Maybe he'd sensed the presence of Riptide and retreated. Monsters hated celestial bronze weapons.  
**

"And Imperial gold."**  
**

**"My name's Percy," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."**

**Bianca's eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Only too late did I realize what her look meant. She wasn't afraid of me. She was trying to warn me.  
**

"It's about time!" Nico exclaimed.**  
I whirled around and something went WHIISH! Pain exploded in my shoulder. A force like a huge hand yanked me backward and slammed me to the wall.I slashed with my sword but there was nothing to hit. A cold laugh echoed through the hall.  
**

**"Yes, Perseus Jackson" Dr. Thorn said. His accent mangled the J in my last name. "I know who you are."**

"Who doesn't." Nico breathed.**  
**

**I tried to free my shoulder. My coat and shirt were pinned to the wall by some kind of spike—a black dagger-like projectile about a foot long. It had grazed the skin of my shoulder as it passed through my clothes, and the cut burned. I'd felt something like this before. Poison.  
**

Everyone, sans Octavian and Nico, held their breath.**  
**

**I forced myself to concentrate. I would not pass out. A dark silhouette now moved toward us. Dr. Thorn stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth and his brown/blue eyes reflected the light of my sword.  
**

**"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."  
**

"Me too." Nico said.**  
**

**I tried to swing my sword again, but he was just out of reach. WHIIIISH! A second projectile shot from somewhere behind Dr. Thorn. He didn't appear to move. It was as if someone invisible were standing behind him, throwing knives.  
**

Reyna narrowed her eyes. Dr. Thorn sounded like a familiar monster.**  
**

**Next to me, Bianca yelped. The second thorn impaled itself in the stone wall, half an inch from her face.  
**

Nico growled, and Hazel put her hand on his shoulder, comfortingly.**  
**

**"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw." **

"That's end of the chapter." Reyna said, then held out the book. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will." Frank said, taking the book.

"**The Vice Principle Gets a Missile Launcher**" he read.

"What a way to start the chapter." Hazel said, sarcastically.

* * *

**_(1) Thalia personally lost my respect when she said that she didn't like Jesse McCartney :(_  
**

**_(2) They have that at my school too! ^^  
_**

**Sooooo, whadda think?**

**Gods, sorry it took so long!**

**But, I had this HUGE report to finish, and it took FOREVER!**

**Thank Hermes for the internet! ;)**

**Please review?**


	3. The VP Gets a Missile Launcher

**Me: Hey peeps!**

**Nico: Hey demigods!**

**Percy: Hey mortals!**

**Thalia: Hey other people!**

**All: Hey people of the fanfiction world!**

**Me: Thank goodness that's over**

**Nico: I know *groans* It took all night to perfect that! I barely got _any_ sleep**

**Percy: *starts snoring***

**Me, Nico, and Thalia: *laughs***

**Me: Should we wake him?**

**Thalia: How about I just do the disclaimer instead**

**Me: Sorry, that's Nico's job**

**Nico: RGW doesn't own anything!**

**Me: *pouts***

* * *

"**The Vice Principle Gets a Missile Launcher**" Frank read.

"What a way to start the chapter." Hazel said, sarcastically.

**I didn't know what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was, but he was fast. Maybe I could defend myself if I could get my shield activated. All that it would take was a touch of my wrist-watch.**

"That's cool." Frank said.

"Yeah, Percy's half-brother, Tyson made it." Nico smiled.

"He has a brother?" Hazel asked.

"He's a cyclops." he said.

"Ah."

**But defending the di Angelo kids was another matter. I needed help, and there was only one way I could think to get it.  
**

**I closed my eyes.  
**

"How's that going to help?" Dakota said.**  
**

**"What are you doing, Jackson?" hissed Dr. Thorn. "Keep moving!"  
**

**I opened my eyes and kept shuffling forward. "It's my shoulder," I lied, trying to sound miserable, which wasn't hard. "It burns."**

"Not a bad plan." Reyna complimented.

**"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"  
**

**Thorn herded us outside, and I tried to concentrate. I pictured Grover's face. **

"Not the best thing to picture."

"Empathy link."

**I focused on my feelings of fear and danger. Last summer, Grover had created an empathy link between us. **

"See?"

"Shut up, Nico."

**He'd sent me visions in my dreams to let me know when he was in trouble. As far as I knew, we were still linked, but I'd never tried to contact Grover before. I didn't even know if it would work while Grover was awake. _Hey, Grover!_ I thought. _Thorn's kidnapping us! He's a poisonous spike-throwing maniac! Help!_**

"Yeah," Nico said, sarcastically. "I'm sure Grover that message."

**Thorn inarched us into the woods. We took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamp lights. My shoulder ached. The wind blowing through my ripped clothes was so cold that I felt like a Percysicle.**

"Were you a Niccysicle?" Hazel teased.

"Don't call me that." Nico glared, blushing.

**"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride."  
**

**"What ride?" Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?"  
**

**"Silence, you insufferable girl!"  
**

Nico growled.**  
**

**"Don't talk to my sister that way.'" Nico said. His voice quivered, but I was impressed that he had the guts to say anything at all.  
**

"Thanks!" Nico smiled.**  
**

**Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but I forced myself to keep walking and pretend I was being a good little captive. Meanwhile, I projected my thoughts like crazy—anything to get Grover's attention: **_**Grover! Apples! Tin cans! Get your furry goat behind out here and bring some heavily armed friends!**_

Everyone snickered at that.

**"Halt," Thorn said.  
**

**The woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, I sensed the sea was down there, hundreds of feet below. I could hear the waves churning and I could smell the cold salty froth. But all I could see was mist and darkness. Dr. Thorn pushed us toward the edge. I stumbled, and Bianca caught me.  
**

"Probably not the first time Bianca saved his life." Nico smirked.**  
**

**"Thanks," I murmured.  
**

**"What is he?" she whispered. "How do we fight him?"  
**

**"I… I'm working on it."  
**

**"I'm scared," Nico mumbled. He was fiddling with something—a little metal toy soldier of some kind.  
**

Everyone turned to Nico with an amused expression, and he blushed.

"It will probably explain." Nico groaned.

"I have a feeling that this will be good blackmail." Hazel smirked, and Nico groaned again.**  
**

**"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn said. "Face me!"  
**

**We turned.  
**

**Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat. At first I thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package—it is ready to deliver."  
**

**There was a garbled reply, and I realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. This seemed way too modern and creepy—a monster using a mobile phone.  
**

Everyone laughed again, Nico still a little red.**  
**

**I glanced behind me, wondering how far the drop was.  
**

**Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump!There is the sea. Save yourself."  
**

**"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.  
**

**"I'll explain later," I said.  
**

**"You do have a plan, right?"  
**

_**Grover!**_** I thought desperately. **_**Come to me!**_

Nico blinked, then burst out laughing.

Soon, everyone in the clearing was laughing.

"Can we continue." Octavian grumbled.

"Sorry that we actually have a laugh and good humor." Nico retorted. "When you don't."

Octavian sneered, and glared at Nico, as everyone else snickered.

**Maybe I could get both the di Angelos to jump with me into the ocean. **

"No way in Hades would I ever do that." Nico said.

**If we survived the fall, I could use the water to protect us. I'd done things like that before. If my dad was in a good mood, and listening, he might help. Maybe.  
**

"Gee, that's reassuring." Nico said sarcastically.**  
**

**"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said, as if reading my thoughts. "You do not realize who I am, do you?" **

**A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn—like a catapult, but more flexible… almost like a tail.  
**

"A manticore!" Reyna exclaimed. "That's what Thorn is!"**  
**

**"Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead."  
**

**"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I…" Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."  
**

The girls looked sadly at Nico, as he looked down.**  
**

**"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."  
**

**"Luke," I said. "You work for Luke."  
**

**Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when I said the name of my old enemy—a former friend who'd tried to kill me several times. **

**"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."  
**

**"The General?" I asked. Then I realized I'd said it with a French accent. "I mean… who's the General?"  
**

Nico's lips twitched upwards. It was kinda funny hearing Percy say that.**  
**

**Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."  
**

**I turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then I heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.  
**

**"Where are you taking us?" Nico said.  
**

**"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."  
**

Everyone looked at Nico who blushed again.

"They weren't dolls. They were figurines." Nico grumbled.**  
**

**"They're not dolls! They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"  
**

**"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."  
**

**"The Great what?" I asked. Anything to keep him talking while I tried to figure out a plan.  
**

Reyna nodded in agreement. Smart plan.**  
**

**"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"  
**

"What's the monster?" Gwen asked.

Nico just smiled mysteriously.**  
**

**"Okay," Bianca whispered to me. "He's completely nuts." **

**"We have to jump off the cliff," I told her quietly. "Into the sea."  
**

**"Oh, super idea. You're completely nuts, too."  
**

Everyone, sans Octavian, snickered and Nico smiled sadly.**  
**

**I never got the chance to argue with her, because just then an invisible force slammed into me.  
**

**Looking back on it, Annabeth's move was brilliant. Wearing her cap of invisibility, she plowed into the di Angelos and me, knocking us to the ground. For a split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over our heads. This gave Thalia and Grover a chance to advance from behind—Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis.  
**

"That shield is creepy." Nico muttered.**  
**

**If you've never seen Thalia run into battle, you have never been truly frightened. She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part. Her shield is modeled after one her dad Zeus uses—also called Aegis—a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.  
**

"That sounds like a cool shield." Frank said.**  
**

**Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.  
**

**Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"  
**

"That was a nice touch." Frank said.**  
**

**I thought Dr. Thorn was a goner. Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. **

"Bread sounds good right now." Dakota groaned.

"Maybe Juno will bring us some food after this." Reyna shrugged.

**As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.  
**

**The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn't dare look.  
**

**Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia, and this time I could see how he did it. He had a tail—a leathery, scorpionlike tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down. Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play—a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. **

"That's what I thought too!" Nico exclaimed.

**Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.**

"Can the fauns do that?" Frank asked.

Reyna shrugged.

**Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.  
**

**"A manticore!" Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she'd plowed into us.  
**

"And Invisibility Cap?" Reyna said. Nico nodded. "Cool."**  
**

**"Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?" **

**"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"  
**

"What?" everyone asked, looking at Nico who was groaning again.

"I'm not going to explain." he groaned.**  
**

**I didn't know what he was talking about, **

"Neither do we." everyone in the clearing said, sans Nico.

**but I didn't have time to worry about it. The manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds then turned toward us with a snarl.  
**

**"Get down!" Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow. At the last second, I remembered my own shield. I hit my wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a gift from my brother, was badly damaged. I wasn't sure it would even stop a second volley.  
**

**I heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to me with a thud.  
**

**"Yield!" the monster roared.  
**

"As if." Nico snorted.**  
**

**"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. **

"That sounds awesome!"

**The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.  
**

Nico growled.**  
**

**"No!" I ran out to help her. I parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest. I raised my shield over us, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.  
**

"Stop being so pessimistic." Reyna frowned.**  
**

**Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."  
**

"I'll yield when Bianca comes back to life." Nico muttered.**  
**

**We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We had no chance.  
**

"And there's the pessimistic comment." Reyna said, rolling her eyes.**  
**

**Then I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods.  
**

Nico growled again. Stupid Hunters. They ruined everything...**  
**

**The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.  
**

**"No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be—"  
**

"Oh, but it is." Nico muttered.**  
**

**His sentence was cut short when something shot past me like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder. He staggered backward, wailing in agony.  
**

"Deal with it." Nico growled.**  
**

**"Curse you!" Thorn cried. **

**He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two, but my eyes must've been playing tricks on me. **

"That's probably what happened." Gwen said.

**No one, not even Apollo's kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy. The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. I tried to swipe at him with my sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged my attack and slammed his tail into my shield, knocking me aside. Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, like me. **

"That's what you would think." Nico smirked as everyone else looked confused.

**They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. **

"The Hunters of Diana!" Reyna gasped.

"Artemis." Nico corrected.

"Whatever."

**They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.  
**

**"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.  
**

**Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful."  
**

**I didn't have a chance to ask what she meant. One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess. **

"Zoe." Nico muttered, and Hazel looked at him, confused.

**"Permission to kill, my lady?"  
**

**I couldn't tell who she was talking to, because she kept her eyes on the manticore.  
**

**The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."  
**

**"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than me, maybe twelve or thirteen. **

Nico smiled. Yeah right.

**She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made me catch my breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. **

**"The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet. "Zoe, permission granted."  
**

**The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"  
**

**He lunged at Thalia and me, knowing we were weak and dazed.  
**

**"No!" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.  
**

Nico looked down, knowing what was coming.**  
**

**"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said. "Get out of the line of fire!"  
**

**But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.  
**

Everyone, sans Octavian and Nico, leaned forward in anticipation.**  
**

**"Fire!" Zoe ordered.  
**

"No!" everyone shouted, sans Nico and Octavian.**  
**

**"No!" I screamed. **

**But the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"  
**

**And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.  
**

"Is Annabeth still alive?" Hazel asked.

Nico nodded.**  
**

**"Annabeth!" I yelled.  
**

**I started to run after her, but our enemies weren't done with us. There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter—the sound of gunfire. Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but the girl with auburn hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter.  
**

"She's brave." Dakota said.

"She's Diana." Reyna said.**  
**

**"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."  
**

**She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust—no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds—ravens, which scattered into the night. The Hunters advanced on us. The one called Zoe stopped short when she saw Thalia. **

**"You," she said with distaste.  
**

**"Zoe Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."  
**

**Zoe scanned the rest of us. "Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."  
**

"No, really?" Nico said, sarcastically.**  
**

**"Yes," the younger girl said. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."  
**

**"Annabeth!" I yelled. "You have to let us save her!"  
**

**The auburn-haired girl turned toward me. "I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."  
**

**I tried to struggle to my feet, but a couple of the girls held me down.  
**

**"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the auburn-haired girl said.  
**

**"Let me go!" I demanded. "Who do you think you are?"  
**

"I'm surprised that he's alive." Reyna said, then looked at Nico. "He's alive?"

Nico nodded. _At least I hope._ he thought. **_(1)_****  
**

**Zoe stepped forward as if to smack me.  
**

Nico's lips twitched upwards.**  
**

**"No," the other girl ordered. "I sense no disrespect, Zoe. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."  
**

**The young girl looked at me, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. "I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt." **

"I repeat, I'm surprised he's alive." Reyna said.

"Who wants to read next?" Frank asked, holding out the book.

"I will." Hazel said, then took the book from Frank and opened to the right page.

"Aren't we supposed to eat first?" Dakota said.

"Where are we supposed to get food?" Octavian sneered.

"Um...right there, I believe." Nico said, pointing behind Octavian.

Octavian turned and behind him was a small house.

"How are we all going to fit in there?" he sneered.

Reyna rolled her eyes, got up, and opened the door of the little house.

"Looks can be deceiving." she said, and entered the house.

Nico shrugged, grabbed Hazel's hand, and dragged her in the house, with her giggling.

Frank also got up, then went inside too.

Gwen and Dakota looked at each other, then also walked in.

Octavian huffed, and pushed the door open to go inside too.

* * *

**_(1) This is before Nico finds out that Percy is with the Romans, and before Percy gets there._  
**

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	4. Bianca di Angelo Makes a Choice

**Me: Hey!**

**Nico: She thanks you for all the reviews that she got!**

**Me: Yes, yes I do ^^**

**Nico: She also has an important announcement to make!**

**Me: Announcement: I do not see the point of disclaimers, I mean it's FANfiction! Nothing belongs to us, so what's the point?**

**Me and Nico: Review!**

* * *

Octavian huffed, and pushed the door open to go inside too.

His jaw dropped at what he saw.

Reyna was right about one thing.

Looks _can_ be deceiving.

Inside the little house, was an exact replica of the dining area back at camp. Only, it was bigger. There was also a kitchen through another door.

"Told you looks could be deceiving." Reyna smirked, turning in a spinny chair, or what ever you call those things.

Octavian sneered.

"Black root beer." Nico said to his goblet.

"Uh...Nico? Why are you talking to your goblet?" Hazel asked, looking at her brother weirdly.

"Tell your goblet what you want." Nico ordered.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Fine." Hazel picked up her goblet, and said, "Water."

Water filled up the goblet to the rim.

"Woah." she said, then took a sip.

"To the gods." Nico said, raising his goblet.

Everyone else raised their goblets and repeated.

When everyone finished dinner, they went back outside to read.

"Who's reading again?" Dakota slurred, taking a swig of kool-aid from his goblet.

"Me." Hazel said, picking up the book.

"**Bianca di Angleo Makes a Choice**" she read.

Nico grimaced. _Yeah,_ he thought. _The wrong choice._

**After seeing Dr. Thorn turn into a monster and plummet off the edge of a cliff with Annabeth, you'd think nothing else could shock me. But when this twelve-year-old girl told me she was the goddess Artemis, I said something real intelligent like, "Um… okay."  
**

"How in Pluto is he alive!" Reyna exclaimed.

Nico shrugged.**  
**

**That was nothing compared to Grover. **

Nico snickered, remembering what Grover did.

**He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"  
**

Everyone burst out laughing at Grover's response.**  
**

**"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"  
**

**"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."  
**

**Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of us in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"  
**

**Artemis's expression softened."It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you!Who are your parents?"  
**

**Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.  
**

Everyone turned to Nico, amused.

Nico blushed and shrugged.**  
**

**Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…"  
**

**She faltered. I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her.  
**

**"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."  
**

"At least," Nico muttered. "The truth that we know." **  
**

**"You are a half-blood," Zoe Nightshade said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."  
**

**"An Olympian… athlete?"  
**

Everyone snorted.**  
**

**"No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."  
**

**"Cool!" said Nico.  
**

**"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"  
**

**Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. **

Everyone burst out laughing as Nico blushed beet red.

"I did not." he complained.

"Sure you didn't, Niccy." Hazel said, ruffling his hair.

Nico swatted her hand away, and huffed, beet red.

**"Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—" **

"What in Pluto are you talking about?" Gwen asked.

"It will explain." Nico groaned, putting his face in his hands.

**"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? **

"Mythomagic?" everyone echoed.

"What's Mythomagic?" Frank asked.

"A card game." came Nico's muffled response.

**There are no gods!"  
**

**As anxious as I felt about Annabeth—all I wanted to do was search for her—I couldn't help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. I remembered what it was like for me when I first learned I was a demigod. Thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. **

**"Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are dangerous."  
**

**"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl who fell."  
**

Everyone winced.**  
**

**Thalia turned away. Even Artemis looked pained.  
**

**"Do not despair for Annabeth," the goddess said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."  
**

**"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" I asked.  
**

**"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."  
**

**I still wanted to jump off the cliff and search for her, **

"Awww," Gwen said. "That's so sweet...I think?"

**but I had a feeling that Artemis was right. Annabeth was gone. If she'd been down there in the sea, I thought, I'd be able to feel her presence.  
**

**"Oo!" Nico raised his hand. **

Nico face-palmed as the others snickered.

**"What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"  
**

**"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."  
**

**"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia said.  
**

**Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"  
**

"What happened." Gwen asked.

Nico just gave her a creepy smile.

"Never mind." she shivered.**  
**

**"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."  
**

"Rams horns." Reyna repeated. "Doesn't Atlas have rams horns?"

The Romans frowned.

"Yeah...he does." Octavian said.

Nico just shrugged.**  
**

**"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."  
**

**"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"  
**

**"Well, a satyr, actually." He kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. I thought Bianca was going to faint right there.**

"I thought she was going to faint too." Nico said.

**"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia said. "You're freaking her out."  
**

**"Hey, my hooves are clean!"  
**

**"Bianca," I said, "we came here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."  
**

**"Camp?" she asked.  
**

**"Camp Half-Blood," I said. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."  
**

**"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico.  
**

"You seem excited." Hazel teased.

Nico didn't say anything.

Hazel frowned.**  
**

**"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't—"  
**

**"There is another option," Zoe said.  
**

Nico crossed his arms and growled.

Hazel looked at him, worriedly.**  
**

**"No, there isn't!" Thalia said.  
**

**Thalia and Zoe glared at each other. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I could tell there was bad history between them. For some reason, they seriously hated each other.  
**

**"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."  
**

**"Yes, my lady."  
**

**"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you."  
**

Nico pulled his knees to his chest, and put his chin on his legs.**  
**

**"What about me?" Nico asked.  
**

**Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"  
**

**Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"  
**

**Nico and Grover walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff.**

Nico frowned at how easily distracted he was. If he stayed, would Bianca still be here?

**Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp. Zoe gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to oversee things.  
**

**As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so… Argh!"  
**

**"I'm with you," I said. "I don't trust—" **

**"Oh, you're with me?" Thalia turned on me furiously. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster! If we'd stuck together, we could've taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you think of that?"  
**

**My jaw clenched. I thought of some harsh things to say, and I might've said them too, but then I looked down and saw something navy blue lying in the snow at my feet. Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap.  
**

Gwen looked sadly at the book.**  
**

**Thalia didn't say another word. She wiped a tear from her cheek, turned, and marched off, leaving me alone with a trampled cap in the snow.  
**

"Well that's nice." Dakota said, lips red from the kool-aid.**  
**

**The Hunters set up their camping site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling the camp like guard dogs. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats, completely unafraid, but I decided I would stick close to the tents. **

"Good idea." Reyna said.

**Falcons watched us from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight, and I got the feeling they were on guard duty, too. Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess's will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire. Almost… except for the pain in my shoulder and the guilt weighing me down. I couldn't believe Annabeth was gone. And as angry as I was at Thalia, I had a sinking feeling that she was right. It was my fault.  
**

Nico rolled his eyes. That's Percy. Blaming himself on everything.**  
**

**What had Annabeth wanted to tell me in the gym? Something serious, she'd said. Now I might never find out. I thought about how we'd danced together for half a song, and my heart felt even heavier.  
**

**I watched Thalia pacing in the snow at the edge of camp, walking among the wolves without fear. She stopped and looked back at Westover Hall, which was now completely dark, looming on the hillside beyond the woods. I wondered what she was thinking.  
**

"Don't we all." Octavian muttered.**  
**

**Seven years ago, Thalia had been turned into a pine tree by her father, to prevent her from dying. She'd stood her ground against an army of monsters on top of Half-Blood Hill in order to give her friends Luke and Annabeth time to escape. She'd only been back as a human for a few months now, and once in a while she would stand so motionless you'd think she was still a tree.  
**

Nico nodded. He's seen that too.**  
**

**Finally, one of the Hunters brought me my backpack. Grover and Nico came back from their walk, and Grover helped me fix up my wounded arm.  
**

**"It's green!" Nico said with delight.  
**

"With delight." Hazel repeated. "Really?"

Nico shrugged, blushing slightly.**  
**

**"Hold still," Grover told me. "Here, eat some ambrosia while I clean that out." I winced as he dressed the wound, but the ambrosia square helped. It tasted like homemade brownie, dissolving in my mouth and sending a warm feeling through my whole body. Between that and the magic salve Grover used, my shoulder felt better within a couple of minutes.  
**

"That stuff is awesome." Frank said.**  
**

**Nico rummaged through his own bag, which the Hunters had apparently packed for him, though how they'd snuck into Westover Hall unseen, I didn't know. Nico laid out a bunch of figurines in the snow—little battle replicas of Greek gods and heroes. I recognized Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot.  
**

"Big collection." Gwen said.

Nico grinned slightly.**  
**

**"Big collection," I said.  
**

"You think like Percy!" Dakota exclaimed, pointing at Gwen,

Gwen rolled her eyes, and snatched Dakota's goblet and emptied it in a bush.

Dakota pouted.**  
**

**Nico grinned. "I've got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones."  
**

"Like Dad." Nico mumbled.**  
**

**"You've been playing this game a long time?"  
**

**"Just this year. Before that…" He knit his eyebrows.  
**

**"What?" I asked.  
**

**"I forget. That's weird."  
**

Hazel looked at Nico, sadly.

_Stupid Lotus Hotel._ Nico thought, glaring at nothing.**  
**

**He looked unsettled, but it didn't last long. "Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"  
**

**I showed him Riptide, and explained how it turned from a pen into a sword just by uncapping it.  
**

**"Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?"  
**

Everyone laughed at the unexpected question.**  
**

**"Um, well, I don't actually write with it."  
**

**"Are you really the son of Poseidon?"  
**

**"Well, yeah."  
**

**"Can you surf really well, then?"  
**

Everyone laughed again.

"Really?" Hazel laughed, amused.

Nico shrugged, a little red in the face.**  
**

**I looked at Grover, who was trying hard not to laugh.  
**

**"Jeez, Nico," I said. "I've never really tried."  
**

**He went on asking questions. Did I fight a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? **

"Yes." Nico said, answering his own question.

**(I didn't answer that one.) If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? **

"Did you seriously ask that in front of Percy?" Gwen groaned.

Nico just smiled sheepishly.

**(I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.) Was Annabeth my girlfriend? (At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavored sack and throw him to the wolves.) **

"Harsh." Nico pouted, as everyone else laughed.

**I figured any second he was going to ask me how many hit points I had, **

"I wouldn't have asked that. As if he'd ever get a card/figurine in Mythomagic." Nico said.

"Didn't Juno say something about these coming out in the mortal world?" Frank said. "He might get one."

"Hey, your right! Maybe everyone in the books would get one! That would be pretty cool!" Nico said, then blushed as everyone snickered. "Er...I mean...um..."

**and I'd lose my cool completely, but then Zoe Nightshade came up to us. "Percy Jackson."  
**

**She had dark brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. With her silver circlet and her proud expression, she looked so much like royalty that I had to resist the urge to sit up straight and say "Yes, ma'am." **

"She probably would have liked you better if you did that." Reyna said, still chuckling at Nico's reaction. She didn't know that a child of Pluto...um Hades...whatever, could be so happy and cheerful.

**She studied me distastefully, like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch.  
**

Octavian sneered. That's exactly what the Greek was.

Hazel glared at him, realizing what he was thinking.

She read before he could say anything.**  
**

**"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."  
**

**Zoe led me to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved me inside. Bianca di Angelo was seated next to the auburn-haired girl, who I still had trouble thinking of as Artemis. The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others I didn't recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot. I thought she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then I realized it was a live animal—a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting contentedly in Artemis's lap.  
**

"Woah..." was what everyone, sans Nico and Octavian, had to say.**  
**

**"Join us, Percy Jackson," the goddess said.  
**

**I sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess studied me, which made me uncomfortable. She had such old eyes for a young girl.  
**

**"Are you surprised by my age?" she asked.  
**

**"Uh… a little."  
**

**"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray."  
**

**"Go astray?" I asked.  
**

**"Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves."  
**

**"Oh."  
**

"That's all he has to say?" Reyna said, rolling her eyes.**  
**

**Zoe sat down at Artemis's right. She glared at me as if all the stuff Artemis had just said was my fault, like I'd invented the idea of being a guy. **

Everyone snickered.

**"You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you," Artemis said. "It is very rare that we would have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp…" She looked at Zoe. "Which one was it?"  
**

**"That boy in Colorado," Zoe said. "You turned him into a jackalope."  
**

**"Ah, yes." Artemis nodded, satisfied. "I enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Percy, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore. Bianca has reported some of the… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I'd like to hear them from you."  
**

**And so I told her.  
**

**When I was done, Artemis put her hand thoughtfully on her silver bow. "I feared this was the answer."  
**

**Zoe sat forward. "The scent, my lady?"  
**

**"Yes."  
**

**"What scent?" I asked.  
**

**"Things are stirring that I have not hunted in millennia," Artemis murmured. "Prey so old I have nearly forgotten."  
**

Reyna narrowed her eyes.**  
**

**She stared at me intently. "We came here tonight sensing the manticore, but he was not the one I seek. Tell me again, exactly what Dr. Thorn said."  
**

**"Um, 'I hate middle school dances.'"  
**

"I doubt that's what she meant." **  
**

**"No, no. After that."  
**

**"He said somebody called the General was going to explain things to me."  
**

"Did he say it with a french accent?" Gwen asked, lips twitching upwards.

Nico didn't say anything, which made Hazel worried.**  
**

**Zoe's face paled. She turned to Artemis and started to say something, but Artemis raised her hand.  
**

**"Go on, Percy," the goddess said.  
**

**"Well, then Thorn was talking about the Great Stir Pot—"  
**

**"Stirring," Bianca corrected.  
**

"She just learned that she was a demigod and she already knew more that him." Frank snickered.**  
**

**"Yeah. And he said, 'Soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus.'"  
**

**The goddess was so still she could've been a statue.  
**

**"Maybe he was lying," I said. **

**Artemis shook her head. "No. He was not. I've been too slow to see the signs. I must hunt this monster."**

Nico had trouble not snorting, remembering what the 'monster' was.**  
**

**Zoe looked like she was trying very hard not to be afraid, but she nodded. "We will leave right away, my lady."  
**

**"No, Zoe. I must do this alone."  
**

**"But, Artemis—"  
**

**"This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me."  
**

**"As…as you wish, my lady."  
**

**I will find this creature," Artemis vowed. "And I shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice. It will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in."  
**

**"You know what the monster is?" I asked.  
**

Everyone turned to Nico, who just smiled mysteriously.**  
**

**Artemis gripped her bow. "Let us pray I am wrong."  
**

**"Can goddesses pray?" I asked, because I'd never really thought about that.  
**

Nico face-palmed.**  
**

**A flicker of a smile played across Artemis's lips. "Before I go, Percy Jackson, I have a small task for you."  
**

**"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"  
**

Everyone snorted.**  
**

**"Sadly, no. I want you to escort the Hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. They can stay there in safety until I return."  
**

**"What?" Zoe' blurted out. "But, Artemis, we hate that place. The last time we stayed there—"  
**

"What happened." Hazel asked.

Nico shrugged.**  
**

**"Yes, I know," Artemis said. "But I'm sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little, ah, misunderstanding. It's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down."  
**

Hazel blinked. "I think I know what they did now..."**  
**

**Zoe muttered something about foolish campers.  
**

Nico muttered something about foolish Hunters.

**"And now there is one last decision to make." Artemis turned to Bianca. "Have you made up your mind, my girl?"  
**

Nico looked down.**  
**

**Bianca hesitated. "I'm still thinking about it."  
**

**"Wait," I said. "Thinking about what?"  
**

**"They… they've invited me to join the Hunt." **

**"What? But you can't! You have to come to Camp Half-Blood so Chiron can train you. It's the only way you can learn to survive."  
**

**"It is not the only way for a girl," Zoe said.  
**

**I couldn't believe I was hearing this. "Bianca, camp is cool! It's got a pegasus stable and a sword-fighting arena and… I mean, what do you get by joining the Hunters?"  
**

**"To begin with," Zoe said, "immortality."**

**I stared at her, then at Artemis. "She's kidding, right?"**

**"Zoe rarely kids about anything," Artemis said. "My Hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal… unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely.**

"Yeah, _super_ unlikely." Nico muttered.

**Or break their oath."  
**

**"What oath?" I said.  
**

**"To foreswear romantic love forever," Artemis said. "To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."  
**

**"Like you?"  
**

**The goddess nodded.  
**

**I tried to imagine what she was saying. Being immortal. Hanging out with only middle-school girls forever. I couldn't get my mind around it. **

"Neither can I." Frank mumbled.

**"So you just go around the country recruiting half-bloods—"  
**

**"Not just half-bloods," Zoe interrupted. "Lady Artemis does not discriminate by birth. All who honor the goddess may join. Half-bloods, nymphs, mortals—"  
**

**"Which are you, then?"  
**

**Anger flashed in Zoe's eyes. "That is not thy concern, boy. The point is Bianca may join if she wishes. It is her choice."  
**

**"Bianca, this is crazy," I said. "What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter."  
**

Nico looked down. He wasn't sure if he should be happy that Percy mentioned him, or angry that Bianca still chose to be a Hunter when Percy mentioned him.**  
**

**"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."  
**

"Hey!" all the boys protested, sans Nico who was still down, knowing what was coming.**  
**

**"Hey!" I protested.  
**

**"You can see him from time to time," Artemis assured Bianca.**

Nico looked down. It was true...just not the same. He couldn't hug her.

**"But you will be free of responsibility. He will have the camp counselors to take care of him. And you will have a new family. Us."  
**

**"A new family," Bianca repeated dreamily. **

Nico frowned. What was wrong with her old family?

**"Free of responsibility." **

**"Bianca, you can't do this," I said. "It's nuts."  
**

**She looked at Zoe. "Is it worth it?"  
**

**Zoe nodded. "It is."  
**

**"What do I have to do?"  
**

**"Say this," Zoe told her, "'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.'"  
**

**"I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."  
**

**"'I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.'"  
**

**Bianca repeated the lines. "That's it?"  
**

**Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding."  
**

**"I accept it," Artemis said.  
**

**The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. Bianca looked no different, but she took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide. "I feel… stronger."  
**

**"Welcome, sister," Zoe said.  
**

_She's not _your_ sister._ Nico thought bitterly. _She's mine._**  
**

**"Remember your pledge," Artemis said. "It is now your life."  
**

**I couldn't speak. I felt like a trespasser. And a complete failure. I couldn't believe I'd come all this way and suffered so much only to lose Bianca to some eternal girls' club.  
**

**"Do not despair, Percy Jackson," Artemis said. "You will still get to show the di Angelos your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there."  
**

"It's not like I can go anywhere else." Nico said, bitterly.**  
**

**"Great," I said, trying not to sound surly. "How are we supposed to get there?"  
**

**Artemis closed her eyes. "Dawn is approaching. Zoe, break camp. You must get to Long Island quickly and safely. I shall summon a ride from my brother."  
Zoe didn't look real happy about this idea, but she nodded and told Bianca to follow her.  
**

**As she was leaving, Bianca paused in front of me. "I'm sorry, Percy. But I want this. I really, really do."  
**

Nico looked down again. This was just not his chapter.**  
**

**Then she was gone, and I was left alone with the twelve-year-old goddess.  
**

**"So," I said glumly. "We're going to get a ride from your brother, huh?"  
**

**Artemis's silver eyes gleamed. "Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di Angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother. **

Nico didn't say anything. He was too bummed out.

Everyone else didn't say anything either. Octavian looked like he wanted to say something, but Reyna's glare silenced him.

**It's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, Apollo." **

"That's the end of the chapter." Frank said.

"I will read." Octavian said, snatching the book from Frank.

Before anyone else could say anything, there was a flash of light.

When the light died down, Nico's jaw dropped.

"Thalia?"

* * *

**Hellooooo!**

**Thanks for all the reviews!**

**They made me happy!**

**Reviews feed my ego. If my ego is not fed, it will eat me. Do you really want to be responsible for my death?**

**Review!**

**Flames are accepted, they help me become better. :D**


	5. Thalia Torches New England

**Hey peeps!**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews!**

**They made me and Nico happy!**

**Nico: ^^**

**Me: Seeeeee?**

**Nico and me: Review!**

* * *

When the light died down, Nico's jaw dropped.

"Thalia?"

'Thalia' got up and brushed herself off. She looked around the clearing, and her eyes settled on Octavian.

"L-Luke?" she stuttered, staring at him. Octavian looked at her, confused.

Nico blinked, then grabbed Thalia's arm and dragged her to the little house.

Since he's so lucky, the room had magically changed into a broom closet.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." he mumbled. He pushed Thalia in, sent an apologetic look to the Romans and closed the door.

"Why are we in a broom closet? You know I'm a Hunter!" Thalia hissed. "And why is Luke here? What am _I_ doing here?"

"Um...let's see." Nico said. "The broom closet _was_ a giant house on the inside. I'm guessing one of the gods, probably Aphrodite, thought it would be funny to change it to a broom closet. Yes, I know you're a Hunter. That wasn't Luke, it was Octavian. And, I don't know why you're here."

Thalia frowned. "Then...then why does he look so much like Luke?"

"I haven't figured that out myself." Nico admitted.

"So," she continued. "How do you know them?"

Nico sighed. This was going to take a while.

Meanwhile, outside...

"Who's Luke?" Octavian asked. "Why did that girl call me Luke?"

"In the chapter, The Vice Principle Gets a Missile Launcher," Gwen said. "Didn't Percy ask if Thorn works for Luke?"

Everyone pondered that for a moment.

"So Luke's the enemy?" Frank asked.

Everyone shrugged.

It was silent...

"Sooo," Gwen said, breaking the silence. "What do you think they're doing in there?" she indicated to the broom closet.

The Romans shrugged again.

"Wanna find out?" she grinned evilly.

Everyone else looked at each other, then Reyna said, "What do you have in mind?"

Gwen just smirked, walked up to the door, and put her hand on the doorknob.

She swung the door open, and Thalia and Nico came falling out.

In the broom closet...

"So you're telling me," Thalia said. "That Hera brought me here to read books about Percy!"

Nico nodded.

"Not only that!" she continued. "You knew about the Romans a long time ago, and didn't bother to tell us!"

Nico shifted, and leaned against the door, as Thalia glared at him.

"I didn't want to cause a war or anything." he mumbled.

But Thalia ignored him.

"Is there anything else that you haven't told us!" she exclaimed, poking his chest. "Anything important?"

Nico gulped and said, "It wasn't that important..."

"If I find out that you're hiding anything else from us," Thalia said, leaning in closer. "I'll just leave it at that."

Nico nodded then said, "A-are you going to tell anyone?"

Before she could answer, the door swung open.

Nico fell backwards, with Thalia falling on him.

Outside again...

"Ow." Nico groaned. "Get of me, Thals!"

"Gladly." Thalia grunted.

She rolled off of Nico, and Nico sat up, his hair messed up from the fall. But that's not the way it looked when he fell out of a broom closet with a girl.

The Romans were laughing at the position they were in, when Gwen said, "Have fun in there?"

Thalia and Nico blushed, and stood up.

"It's not what it looks like." Nico said quickly.

"Of course not." Hazel giggled.

Thalia grumbled something, then sat down next to Octavian and Nico's spot, while Nico sat back down next to Hazel and Thalia.

"Sooo," Hazel said. "Care to tell us who your girlfriend is?"

Nico blushed and said, "She is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"I'm Thalia." Thalia said. "Daughter of Zeus. And you are?"

"I'm Hazel, daughter of Pluto." Hazel said. "Hades in Greek form."

"Frank, unknown." Frank introduced.

"Reyna, daughter of Bellona." Reyna said.

"Octavian, Augur of Camp Jupiter." Octavian sneered. Thalia decided that she didn't like him.

"Gwen, daughter of Venus." Gwen introduced. "Aphrodite in Greek form."_**(1)**_

"Dakota, son of Bacchus." Dakota said, lips still red from the kool-aid. "That's Dionysus in Greek form."

"Uh...your lips...they're red." Thalia said.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "It's from the kool-aid." she explained.

Thalia blinked.

"Anyway," Nico said, trying to change the subject. "Who's reading next?"

"I was." Octavian said, and snatched the book from the ground.

"**Thalia Torches New England**" he read.

"What?" Gwen giggled.

Thalia just groaned, and waved her hand in a 'continue' guesture.

**Artemis assured us that dawn was coming, but you could've fooled me. It was colder and darker and snowier than ever. Up on the hill, Westover Hall's windows were completely lightless. I wondered if the teachers had even noticed the di Angelos and Dr. Thorn were missing yet. I didn't want to be around when they did. With my luck, the only name Mrs. Gottschalk would remember was "Percy Jackson," and then I'd be the subject of a nationwide manhunt… again.  
**

"Again?" Reyna said.

Thalia and Nico shrugged. They didn't know the story either.**  
**

**The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they'd set it up. I stood shivering in the snow (unlike the Hunters, who didn't seem to feel at all uncomfortable), and Artemis stared into the east like she was expecting something. Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. I could tell from his gloomy face that she was explaining her decision to join the Hunt. **

Nico looked down. Not the best chat he's had.

Thalia placed a hand on his shoulder, comfortingly.

He didn't respond.

**I couldn't help thinking how selfish it was of her, abandoning her brother like that.  
**

Nico glared at the book.**  
**

**Thalia and Grover came up and huddled around me, anxious to hear what had happened in my audience with the goddess.  
**

**When I told them, Grover turned pale. "The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go well."  
**

**"How'd they even show up here?" I wondered. "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."  
**

**"And Bianca joined them," Thalia said, disgusted. **

Nico snorted. Now that Thalia's a Hunter, it was funny looking back at it. It almost took his mind off of Bianca. Almost...

**"It's all Zoe's fault. That stuck-up, no good—"  
**

**"Who can blame her?" Grover said. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh.  
**

**Thalia rolled her eyes. "You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"  
**

**"But she's so… into nature," Grover swooned.  
**

Everyone snickered.**  
**

**"You're nuts," said Thalia.  
**

**"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah."  
**

**Finally the sky began to lighten. Artemis muttered, "About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."  
**

**"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" I asked. **

**"For my brother. Yes."  
**

**I didn't want to be rude. I mean, I knew the legends about Apollo—or sometimes Helios—driving a big sun chariot across the sky. But I also knew that the sun was really a star about a zillion miles away. **

"He seriously still believes that?" Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"This _is_ Percy we're talking about." Nico reminded.

"Good point."

**I'd gotten used to some of the Greek myths being true, but still… I didn't see how Apollo could drive the sun.  
**

**"It's not exactly as you think," Artemis said, like she was reading my mind.  
**

**"Oh, okay." I started to relax. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a—"  
**

**There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth.  
**

**"Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."  
**

"Parks?" Thalia questioned, even though she already knew the answer.**  
**

**Parks? **

"NO!" Thalia shouted, making everyone jump. "I THINK LIKE KELP HEAD!"

Everyone blinked, then burst out laughing.

"Take notes, Niccy. That's how you break the tension." Thalia lectured.

Everyone laughed again, as 'Niccy' glared at Thalia.

**I averted my eyes, and saw that the other kids were doing the same. The light and warmth intensified until my winter coat felt like it was melting off of me. Then suddenly the light died. I looked. And I couldn't believe it. It was my car. **

"I wasn't aware that Kelp Head could drive." Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

"Like you're any better." Nico snorted.

Thalia glared, and Nico glared right back. Then they stopped glaring and started laughing.

The Romans stared at them, weirdly.

**Well, the car I wanted, anyway. **

"Oh..."

**A red convertible Maserati Spyder. **

"Nice pick." Frank whistled.

**It was so awesome it glowed. Then I realized it was glowing because the metal was hot. The snow had melted around the Maserati in a perfect circle, which explained why I was now standing on green grass and my shoes were wet.  
**

"I hate it when that happens!" Frank said.**  
**

**The driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, and for a second, I had the uneasy feeling it was Luke, my old enemy. **

"Percy thought he looked like Luke?" Thalia said, blushing. "I didn't see that."

"Yeah," Nico whispered to her. "But you thought he looked hot."

Thalia blushed redder, and glared at Nico as he smirked.

"If you two are done flirting, can Octavian continue?" Gwen teased.

Nico and Thalia blushed and glared at Gwen. It wasn't as scary as usual cause their cheeks were bright red.

**This guy had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks. But it wasn't Luke. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face like Luke's. His smile was brighter and more playful. (Luke didn't do much more than scowl and sneer these days.) The Maserati driver wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt.  
**

**"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."  
**

Everyone burst out laughing as Thalia blushed, and mumbled something inadequate.**  
**

**"He's the sun god," I said.  
**

"Even I got that, and I was like 11." Nico said, rolling his eyes.**  
**

**"That's not what I meant."  
**

**"Little sister!" Apollo called. If his teeth were any whiter he could've blinded us without the sun car. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"  
**

**Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister."  
**

**"Hey, I was born first."  
**

**"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue—"  
**

"Perhaps a few more." Thalia smiled.**  
**

**"So what's up?" he interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?" **

**Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."  
**

**"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."  
**

"Argh." Thalia groaned. "That _definitely_ took away some points on the hotness factor.

Nico snickered.**  
**

**The Hunters all groaned. Apparently they'd met Apollo before.  
**

**He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically.  
**

**"**_**Green grass breaks through snow.  
**_

_**Artemis pleads for my help.  
**_

_**I am so cool.**_**"  
**

"That was..." Frank said, trying to find the right word.

"Lame?" Thalia suggested, and Nico snorted.**  
**

**He grinned at us, waiting for applause.  
**

**"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said.  
**

**Apollo frowned. "Was it?"  
**

**"Yes. What about I am so big-headed?"  
**

**"No, no, that's six syllables. **

Everyone snickered.

**Hmm." He started muttering to himself.  
**

**Zoe Nightshade turned to us. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, _There once was a goddess from Sparta—_"  
**

**"I've got it!" Apollo announced. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself.  
**

**"And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."  
**

**"These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis said, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."  
**

**"No problem!" Apollo checked us out. **

"More like checked you out." Nico muttered to Thalia, and she blushed then glared at him, as he snickered.

**"Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."  
**

**Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."  
**

Everyone snickered again, and Thalia blushed and groaned.**  
**

**"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. **

Thalia blinked. "I'd forgotten about that."

**Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—" "Brother," Artemis said. "You should get going."  
**

**"Oh, right." Then he looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. "Percy Jackson?"  
**

**"Yeah. I mean… yes, sir."  
**

**It seemed weird calling a teenager "sir," but I'd learned to be careful with immortals.  
**

"He calls Apollo 'sir', but not Ares." Thalia said, rolling her eyes.**  
**

**They tended to get offended easily. Then they blew stuff up. Apollo studied me, but he didn't say anything, which I found a little creepy.  
**

**"Well!" he said at last. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way—west. And if you miss it, you miss it."  
**

**I looked at the Maserati, which would seat two people max. There were about twenty of us.  
**

**"Cool car," Nico said.  
**

**"Thanks, kid," Apollo said.  
**

Nico pouted. He hated it when people called him 'kid'. He still hates it.**  
**

**"But how will we all fit?"  
**

**"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…"  
**

**He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button. **_**Chirp, chirp.**_**  
**

**For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the Maserati had been replaced by one of those Turtle Top shuttle buses like we used for school basketball games.  
**

"You could have at least made it look cool." Dakota complained.**  
**

**"Right," he said. "Everybody in."  
**

**Zoe ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."  
**

"Not the smartest thing to do." Thalia rolled her eyes.**  
**

**Zoe recoiled. Her eyes flashed murderously.  
**

**"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."  
**

**Apollo spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"  
**

**"Hunting," Artemis said. "It's none of your business."  
**

**"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."  
**

"Someone has a big ego." Reyna said, rolling her eyes.**  
**

**Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!" **

**"No, no! I never mess around."  
**

Nico and Thalia looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

The Romans stared at them, confused.

"Why are you laughing?" Gwen asked.

"A-Apollo not m-messing around." Thalia laughed. "Ha!"

When their laughing fit died down, Nico straightened and said, "Continue." as if nothing had happened.**  
**

**Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at us. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."  
**

**Zoe straightened. "Yes, my lady."  
**

**Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. "So much danger. The beast must be found."  
**

"Some beast it was." Thalia snickered.**  
**

**She sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows.  
**

**Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"  
**

"Lucky!" Dakota exclaimed. "I wish I was there."

"No, you don't." Nico shuddered, remembering the trip.**  
**

**The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they'd be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of us highly infectious males, Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which seemed cold to me, but Nico didn't seem to mind.  
**

"I minded." said boy grumbled.**  
**

**"This is so cool!" Nico said, jumping up and down in the driver's seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"  
**

**"Downsizing," Apollo said. "The Romans started it. **

Octavian looked proud at that.

"Peacock." Nico coughed, and Octavian glared at him, while Nico tried to look innocent and failed miserably.

**They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."  
**

**"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"  
**

"You sure had a way with words, Nico." Hazel chuckled.**  
**

**Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. **

"She still does." Thalia snickered.

**Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"  
**

"It still doesn't make any sense to me." Nico said.

"Aww, poor Niccy doesn't know something." Thalia teased.

Nico blushed, and glared at Thalia as the Romans laughed.**  
**

**Nico shook his head. "No."  
**

**"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."  
**

"Did that help, Niccy?"

"Shut up! You're ruining my reputation!"

**"Can I drive?"  
**

**"No. Too young." **

"Probably would have done better than Thalia." Nico grumbled.

**"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.  
**

**"Mm, no," Apollo said. "Too furry." He looked past me and focused on Thalia.  
**

**"Daughter of Zeus!" he said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."  
**

"Not perfect." Nico said.**  
**

**"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."  
**

**"C'mon," Apollo said. "How old are you?"  
**

**Thalia hesitated. "I don't know."  
**

**It was sad, but true. She'd been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that had been seven years ago. **

"Thanks for the reminder." Thalia said, sarcastically. "I'd almost forgotten."

**So she should be nineteen, if you went by years. But she still felt like she was twelve, and if you looked at her, she seemed somewhere in between. The best Chiron could figure, she had kept aging while in tree form, but much more slowly.  
**

**Apollo tapped his finger to his lips. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."  
**

**"How do you know that?"  
**

**"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."  
**

**"That's my birthday! December twenty-second."  
**

"That's a day after my birthday!" Nico said.

Thalia stared. "You never told us when your birthday was!"

Nico blinked, then face-palmed. "Crap."**  
**

**"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!"  
**

**Thalia shifted her feet nervously. "Uh—"  
**

**"I know what you're going to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."  
**

"That's not what I was going to say." Thalia said, rolling her eyes.**  
**

**"That's not what I was going to say."  
**

"Looks like you don't change." Nico said.**  
**

**"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."  
**

"I bet that made Percy feel happy." Gwen said.**  
**

**Apollo laughed good-naturedly. The rest of us didn't join him.  
**

**Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was absolutely not going to take "no" for an answer.  
**

**He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield. I had to read it backward (which, for a dyslexic, really isn't that different than reading forward). I was pretty sure it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.  
**

"It did." Nico said.**  
**

**"Take it away!" Apollo told Thalia. "You're gonna be a natural!"  
**

"Yeah, right." Nico said, and Thalia blushed.**  
**

**I'll admit I was jealous. I couldn't wait to start driving. A couple of times that fall, my mom had taken me out to Montauk when the beach road was empty, and she'd let me try out her Mazda. I mean, yeah, that was a Japanese compact, and this was the sun chariot, but how different could it be? **

**"Speed equals heat," Apollo advised. "So start slowly, and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."**

**Thalia gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. She looked like she was going to be sick.**

"Felt like it too." Thalia grumbled.**  
**

**"What's wrong?" I asked her.  
**

**"Nothing," she said shakily. "N-nothing is wrong."  
**

"Liar!" Dakota accused, pointing a finger a Thalia.

Thalia stared at him like he should be in a mental hospital.**  
**

**She pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast I fell back and crashed against something soft.  
**

**"Ow!" Grover said.  
**

**"Sorry."  
**

**"Slower!" Apollo said.  
**

**"Sorry!" Thalia said. "I've got it under control!"  
**

**I managed to get to my feet. Looking out the window, I saw a smoking ring of trees from the clearing where we'd taken off.  
**

**"Thalia," I said, "lighten up on the accelerator."  
**

**"I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. But she kept it floored.  
**

**"Loosen up," I told her.  
**

"It didn't help with him telling me what to do!" Thalia said.**  
**

**"I'm loose!"Thalia said. She was so stiff she looked like she was made out of plywood.  
**

"Exaggeration." Thalia mumbled.**  
**

**"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. "Hang a left."  
**

**Thalia jerked the wheel and again threw me into Grover, who yelped.  
**

**"The other left," Apollo suggested.  
**

The Romans and Nico snickered, and Thalia blushed.**  
**

**I made the mistake of looking out the window again. We were at airplane height now—so high the sky was starting to look black.  
**

**"Ah…" Apollo said, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over." **

**Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat.  
**

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Gwen asked.

Thalia didn't answer.**  
**

**Something was definitely wrong. I'd never seen her like this. The bus pitched down and somebody screamed. Maybe it was me. **

"Nope, it was me." Nico said.

Hazel giggled, and Nico blushed and said, "You'd scream too if you were in my shoes."

**Now we were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to our right. And it was getting hot in the bus. Apollo had been thrown somewhere in the back of the bus, but he started climbing up the rows of seats.  
**

Everyone chuckled.**  
**

**"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him.  
**

**"No worries," Apollo said. He looked plenty worried. "She just has to learn to—WHOA!"  
**

**I saw what he was seeing. Down below us was a little snow-covered New England town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. As I watched, the snow melted off the trees and the roofs and the lawns. The white steeple on a church turned brown and started to smolder. Little plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, **

"Cake sounds good right now." Dakota moaned.

**were popping up all over the town. Trees and rooftops were catching fire.  
**

**"Pull up!" I yelled.  
**

**There was a wild light in Thalia's eyes. She yanked back on the wheel, and I held on this time. As we zoomed up, I could see through the back window that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.  
**

**"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."  
**

The Romans and Nico snickered again.**  
**

**Thalia was thundering toward the coastline of northern Long Island. There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. I could see the dining pavilion and cabins and the amphitheater.**

"Amphitheater?" the Romans echoed.

Thalia and Nico nodded.**  
**

**"I'm under control," Thalia muttered. "I'm under control."  
**

**We were only a few hundred yards away now.  
**

**"Brake," Apollo said.  
**

**"I can do this."  
**

**"BRAKE!"  
**

**Thalia slammed her foot on the brake, and the sun bus pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle, slamming into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge FLOOOOOOSH! Steam billowed up, sending several frightened naiads scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.  
**

"Poor naiads." Hazel and Gwen frowned.**  
**

**The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes. **

**"Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! **

Nico snorted.

**Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?" **

"That's the end of the chapter." Octavian sneered.

"I'll read." Nico said, taking the book from Octavian's grasp.

Reyna frowned. "I'm not sure if you can read it, Nico. It's in Latin."

"I can try." he shrugged.

Nico looked at the book, frowned, then said, "It's in Greek."

"It's in Latin." Octavian sneered.

"It's probably Latin to us, and Greek to them, that way we can read." Hazel said, trying to avoid a fight.

"That makes sense." Thalia said.

"**I Place An Underwater Phone Call**" Nico read.

"Is that even possible?" Gwen said.

* * *

**Thank you so much for all the reviews!**

**They made me so happy! ^^**

**Anyways, most of the reviews are saying that I need more dialogue.**

**Trust me peoples, I think that too.**

**It's just that I don't really know the Romans personalities much, and I can't do Thalia and Nico speaking ALL the time.**

**Here's a question!**

**Who's your favorite character?**

**I will tally the points when I get at least 5-8 answers.**

**They will show at the bottom of the next chappie!**

**Please review!**

**Flames are accepted, they help me become better. ^^**


	6. I Place An Underwater Phone Call

**Heeeey!**

**Thanks for all the reviews!**

**If you want to just see the poll, just scroll down to the bottom!**

**Review! And enjoy!**

* * *

"**I Place An Underwater Phone Call**" Nico read.

"Is that even possible?" Gwen said.

"Seeing as it's the title of the chapter," Thalia said. "Yeah."

**I'd never seen Camp Half-Blood in winter before, and the snow surprised me. See, the camp has the ultimate magic climate control. **

"That's cool." Reyna said.

**Nothing gets inside the borders unless the director, Mr. D, wants it to. I thought it would be warm and sunny, but instead the snow had been allowed to fall lightly. Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body. I wondered if the spirit of Delphi was roasting marshmallows up there or something.  
**

Thalia and Nico snorted, as the Romans looked confused.

"The spirit of...what?" Frank asked, echoing the Romans thoughts.

"Delphi." Nico and Thalia answered.

"It was a sorta mummy, I guess you could say." Nico said. "She's the one that tells prophecies. It's kinda like Octavian, but better and more important."

Octavian sneered, and glared at Nico, as Thalia nodded in agreement.**  
**

**"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"  
**

"Noooo," Thalia said, sarcastically. "It's a donkey. What do you think it is?"

Nico flushed and shrugged.**  
**

**"Yeah," I said.  
**

**"Why is there lava pouring down it?"  
**

**"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoe, have you met—"  
**

**"I know Chiron," Zoe said stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. **

"They have cabins instead of legions?" Reyna asked. Nico and Thalia nodded. "Interesting..."

"Stupid more like it." Octavian sneered.

Thalia and Nico glared at him with so much anger, that Octavian tried not to cower.

**Hunters, follow me."  
**

**"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.  
**

**"We know the way."  
**

**"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't"—he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking—"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"  
**

"Grover sure is determined." **  
**

**Zoe rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brother's ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away.  
**

"What did she say?" Gwen asked.

Nico glared at her. "That's between me and her only."**  
**

**"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at me. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."  
**

**"What do you mean?"  
**

**Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. **

"Nice answer."

**"Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!" He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.  
**

"Yay!" Dakota said. "The cool car's back!"**  
**

**Nico was still looking grumpy. **

"Alert the media!" Thalia shouted, and Nico rolled his eyes, as Hazel giggled.

**I wondered what his sister had told him.  
**

The Romans turned to Nico, as if expecting him to tell them.

Nico glared at them.**  
**

**"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine."  
**

"I'm not sure that he has a figurine." Nico said, thoughtfully.

"Well," Thalia said. "That'd make Chiron happy."**  
**

**"Our activities director," I said. "He's… well, you'll see."  
**

**"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."  
**

"And there's the grumpy Nico we all know and love!" Thalia exclaimed, and Nico rolled his eyes.**  
**

**The second thing that surprised me about camp was how empty it was. I mean, I knew most half-bloods only trained during the summer. Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there didn't even seem to be many of them, either. I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armory. **

Nico and Thalia smiled sadly at the mention of Beckendorf.

**The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Even my old rival from the Ares cabin, Clarisse, didn't seem to be around. **

Nico and Thalia knitted their eyebrows and frowned. The Labyrinth...so many bad memories...

**The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D, the camp director, and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.  
**

"Camp, sweet Camp." Thalia and Nico sighed.

The Romans looked at them, weirdly, and they shrugged.**  
**

**Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wasn't posing as a teacher this year, so I guess he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoofprint design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.  
**

**He smiled when he saw us. "Percy! Thalia! Ah, and this must be—"  
**

**"Nico di Angelo," I said. **

"I can introduce myself." Nico grumbled.

**"He and his sister are half-bloods."**

**Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."  
**

**"Well…"  
**

**His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?"  
**

Thalia winced. She hated hearing that.**  
**

**"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost." **

Thalia glared at the book.

"Who's Mr. D?" Dakota asked.

"Your dad." Nico answered.

Dakota's expression was priceless.

**I'd been trying not to pay attention to Mr. D, but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. **

"WHAT!" Dakota exclaimed. "THAT'S MY DAD!"

Thalia and Nico were leaning on each other for support, they were laughing so hard.

Hazel was giggling along with Gwen and Reyna, while Octavian's lips twitched upwards.

When the laughter died down, Nico continued, a laugh escaping everyone once in a while.

**(Like Mr. D had ever run a day in his immortal life.) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.  
**

**"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"  
**

**Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"  
**

This caused another round of laughter.**  
**

**Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."  
**

**"But… Oh, right. Yes, sir."  
**

**"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"**

"It's good that you listen to your elders." Reyna said, nodding in approval.

"But," Nico said, glaring at Thalia. "Some people don't."

Thalia did the mature thing, and stuck her tongue out at him.**  
**

**"It's PG-13," Grover said.  
**

**"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.  
**

"I miss the old happy go lucky Nico." Thalia said, sighing dramatically.

Nico pouted.

**"Now," Chiron said to Thalia and me, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."  
**

**When we were done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. **

"It's not like he'd care." Thalia mumbled.

**"We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately."  
**

**"I'll go," Thalia and I said at the same time.  
**

**Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"  
**

**Thalia and I both started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.  
**

"Speaking from experience?" Gwen asked.

Thalia and Nico nodded, much to her surprise.**  
**

**"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell—"  
**

"Annabeth." Thalia and Nico snapped.**  
**

**"Annabeth," I snapped. She'd gone to camp since she was seven, and still Mr. D pretended not to know her name.  
**

Dakota frowned. Not liking how his dad in Greek form was acting.**  
**

**"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. **

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed, pouting, as Thalia and Hazel laughed.

**So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead." I wanted to strangle Mr. D. It wasn't fair Zeus had sent him here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years. It was meant to be a punishment for Mr. D's bad behavior on Olympus, but it ended up being a punishment for all of us.  
**

Dakota frowned again.**  
**

**"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. He'd practically raised Annabeth all those years she was a year-round camper, before she'd given living with her dad and stepmom a second try. "She's very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."  
**

**"That's right," Thalia said. "Luke would want her alive."  
**

Thalia winced.

**"In which case" said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."  
**

**I got up from the table.  
**

"Oh, great." Hazel groaned.**  
**

**"Percy." Chiron's tone was full of warning. **

**In the back of my mind, I knew Mr. D was not somebody to mess with. Even if you were an impulsive ADHD kid like me, he wouldn't give you any slack. But I was so angry I didn't care.  
**

**"You're glad to lose another camper," I said. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"  
**

**Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"  
**

Dakota glared at the book.**  
**

**"Yeah," I growled. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!"  
**

"Is he trying to get himself killed?" Reyna face-palmed.**  
**

**For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The light reflected in Mr. D's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something—probably a curse that would blast me to smithereens—when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.  
**

"Saved by the annoying Nico." Thalia said in commentator's voice.

Nico glared.**  
**

**"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're…you're a centaur!"  
**

"Have to admit," Hazel said. "You have _great_ timing, di Angelo."

Nico rolled his eyes.**  
**

**Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."  
**

**"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D. "You're the wine dude? No way!"  
**

Everyone blinked, then burst out laughing as Nico blushed cherry red.

"W-wine dude?" Dakota laughed, tears streaming down his face.

"I saved Percy." Nico grumbled, still red in the face.**  
**

**Mr. D turned his eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"  
**

**"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."  
**

**"My figurine."  
**

"We finally get to hear about the game!" Hazel said, looking for an opportunity to tease/blackmail Nico.**  
**

**"In my game, Mythomagic. **

"Don't some of the Romans play that game?" Frank asked.

Everyone shrugged.

**And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!" **

"Again, how are you alive?"

**"Ah." Mr. D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved my life. "Well, that's… gratifying."  
**

**"Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."  
**

**"Capture the flag?" I asked. "But we don't have enough—"  
**

**"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."  
**

**"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."  
**

**Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. **

"How many attack points does Hades have, Nico?" Thalia teased.

Nico blushed and mumbled something.

"What was that?" Hazel said, cupping her hand around her ear.

"Five thousand," Nico mumbled. "But only if your opponent attacks first."

"Zeus?" Thalia asked.

"I'm continuing." Nico said, avoiding the question, face burning bright red.

**"Run along now," Chiron told us.  
**

**"Oh, right," Thalia said. "Come on, Percy."  
**

**She hauled me out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember that he wanted to kill me.  
**

**"You've already got Ares on your bad side," Thalia reminded me as we trudged toward the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"  
**

"Another?" the Romans echoed.

"How many immortal enemies does he have?" Reyna asked.

"Ares." Thalia said.

"Hades." Nico added.

"Kronos."

"No, really? Hera."

They kept listing off names of immortal enemies that Percy has, and the Romans stared at them in shock.

"Psst." Nico whispered to Thalia, but loud enough for the Romans to hear. "I think we broke them."

Hazel cuffed the back of Nico's head.

Nico, taking that as a sign, read.**  
**

**She was right. My first summer as a camper, I'd gotten in a fight with Ares, and now he and all his children wanted to kill me. I didn't need to make Dionysus mad, too.  
**

**"Sorry," I said. "I couldn't help it. It's just so unfair."  
**

**She stopped by the armory and looked out across the valley, toward the top of Half-Blood Hill. Her pine tree was still there, the Golden Fleece glittering in its lowest branch. The tree's magic still protected the borders of camp, but it no longer used Thalia's spirit for power.  
**

**"Percy, everything is unfair," Thalia muttered. "Sometimes I wish…"  
**

Everyone, sans Octavian who sneered, sent Thalia sorry/sad looks.**  
**

**She didn't finish, but her tone was so sad I felt sorry for her. With her ragged black hair and her black punk clothes, an old wool overcoat wrapped around her, she looked like some kind of huge raven, completely out of place in the white landscape.  
**

Thalia frowned, and turned to Nico.

He nodded. She did look like that sometimes.**  
**

**"We'll get Annabeth back," I promised. "I just don't know how yet."  
**

**"First I found out that Luke is lost," she said. "Now Annabeth—"  
**

"Don't think like that." Nico snapped, then face-palmed as he read the next line.

**"Don't think like that."  
**

"Great," Nico muttered. "Now I think like Kelp Head too."**  
**

**"You're right." She straightened up. "We'll find a way."  
**

**Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.  
**

**"I'll break that up," Thalia said. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."  
**

**"All right. You should be team captain."  
**

**"No, no," she said. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."  
**

**"We can, uh… co-captain or something."  
**

"And that worked out great." Nico said, cheerfully.

Thalia glared at him.**  
**

**She looked about as comfortable with that as I felt, but she nodded.  
**

**As she headed for the court, I said, "Hey, Thalia."  
**

**"Yeah?"  
**

**"I'm sorry about what happened at Westover. I should've waited for you guys."  
**

**"'S okay, Percy. I probably would've done the same thing." She shifted from foot to foot, like she was trying to decide whether or not to say more. "You know, you asked about my mom and I kinda snapped at you. It's just… I went back to find her after seven years, and I found out she died in Los Angeles. She, um… she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and…" Thalia blinked hard.**

The Romans and Nico, sans Octavian, looked at her sadly.

She turned away, and stared at a pine tree.**  
**

**"I'm sorry."  
**

**"Yeah, well. It's… it's not like we were ever close. I ran away when I was ten. Best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth. But still—"  
**

**"That's why you had trouble with the sun van."  
**

"He went to far, didn't he." Nico asked.

Thalia nodded.**  
**

**She gave me a wary look. "What do you mean?"  
**

**"The way you stiffened up. You must've been thinking about your mom, not wanting to get behind the wheel."  
**

**I was sorry I'd said anything. Thalia's expression was dangerously close to Zeus's, the one time I'd seen him get angry—like any minute, her eyes would shoot a million volts.  
**

"Seriously!" Reyna exclaimed. "He should just wear a sign that says, 'Destroy me now!'"

"He was thinking about it." Thalia said, and everyone stared at her.**  
**

**"Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, that must've been it."  
**

**She trudged off toward the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball. The cabins were the weirdest collection of buildings you've ever seen. Zeus and Hera's big white-columned buildings, Cabins One and Two, stood in the middle, with five gods' cabins on the left and five goddesses' cabins on the right, so they all made a U around the central green and the barbecue hearth.  
**

Octavian leaned forward, wanting to learn everything about the Greek camp as possible.**  
**

**I made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. I woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at me to go away. When I asked him where Clarisse was he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"  
**

"He doesn't even know?" Nico said.**  
**

**"Is she okay?"  
**

Nico and Thalia blinked.

"He's worried?" Thalia said.

"Awwkkwwarrddd." Nico said, stretching the word.**  
**

**"Haven't heard from her in a month. She's missing in action. Like your butt's gonna be if you don't get outta here!"  
**

**I decided to let him go back to sleep.  
**

**Finally I got to Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. It was a low gray building hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. Inside, it was just as empty as always, except for my bunk. A Minotaur horn hung on the wall next to my pillow.  
**

Everyone looked at Thalia and Nico, who shrugged.

They didn't know that story either.**  
**

**I took Annabeth's baseball cap out of my backpack and set it on my nightstand. I'd give it to her when I found her. And I would find her. I took off my wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. **

"When's dinner?" Dakota groaned.

"We already had dinner." Gwen said, whacking the back of Dakota's head.

**The beautiful metal pictures that my brother had crafted were all banged up. In the picture of me and Annabeth fighting the Hydra, it looked like a meteor had made a crater in my head. I hung the shield on its hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now. Maybe Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin could fix it for me. He was the best armorsmith in the camp. **

"Was..." Thalia and Nico mumbled, too quiet for the Romans to hear.

**I'd ask him at dinner. I was staring at the shield when I noticed a strange sound—water gurgling—and I realized there was something new in the room. At the back of the cabin was a big basin of gray sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its mouth burst a stream of water, a saltwater spring that trickled into the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.  
**

"Cool." Nico said.**  
**

**I stepped up to the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but I knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon.  
**

**I looked into the water and said, "Thanks, Dad."  
**

**The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered—a dozen or so golden drachma. I realized what the fountain was for. It was a reminder to keep in touch with my family.  
**

"How do you keep in touch with your family with coins and a fountain?" Reyna asked.

Nico and Thalia just smiled mysteriously.**  
**

**I opened the nearest window, and the wintry sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. Then I fished a coin out of the hot water.  
**

**"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow," I said, "accept my offering." **

Frank blinked. "She answers?"

"More or less." Thalia answered.

**I tossed a coin into the mist and it disappeared. Then I realized I didn't know who to contact first.  
**

**My mom? That would've been the "good son" thing to do, but she wouldn't be worried about me yet. She was used to me disappearing for days or weeks at a time.**

_But,_ Thalia thought. _Not for months._**  
**

**My father? It had been way too long, almost two years, since I'd actually talked to him. But could you even send an Iris-message to a god? **

Everyone turned to Thalia and Nico.

They shrugged.

**I'd never tried. Would it make them mad, like a sales call or something? I hesitated. Then I made up my mind.  
**

**"Show me Tyson," I requested. "At the forges of the Cyclopes."  
**

**The mist shimmered, and the image of my half brother appeared. He was surrounded in fire, which would've been a problem if he weren't a Cyclops. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water—the bottom of the ocean.  
**

**"Tyson!" I yelled.  
**

**He didn't hear me at first because of the hammering and the roar of the flames.  
**

**"TYSON!"  
**

"Ow!" Hazel and Thalia exclaimed, glaring at Nico.

"What?" Nico said, innocently. "It's in all caps."**  
**

**He turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. "Percy!"  
**

**He dropped the sword blade and ran at me, trying to give me a hug. The vision blurred and I instinctively lurched back.**

Thalia and Nico snickered. Only Tyson...

**"Tyson, it's an Iris-message. I'm not really here."  
**

**"Oh." He came back into view, looking embarrassed. "Oh, I knew that. Yes."  
**

"Suuuure ya did." Nico said, and Hazel whacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" Nico exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"Stop interrupting yourself and read!" Hazel shouted.

Nico did the wise thing. He read.**  
**

**"How are you?" I asked. "How's the job?" **

**His eye lit up. "Love the job! Look!" He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands. **

"Ow." Dakota said.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Cyclops are fire-resistant."

**"I made this!"  
**

**"That's really cool."  
**

**"I wrote my name on it. Right there."  
**

**"Awesome. Listen, do you talk to Dad much?" **

**Tyson's smile faded. "Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war."  
**

**"What do you mean?" Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. "Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys."  
**

The Romans frowned. They didn't remember anything like that. They really never payed any attention to the ocean if they could help it.**  
**

**I sort of knew what he was talking about. He meant the immortals who ruled the oceans back in the days of the Titans. Before the Olympians took over. The fact that they were back now, with the Titan Lord Kronos and his allies gaining strength, was not good.**

"It's a good thing we destroyed Mt. Diablo." Octavian said proudly, puffing out his chest. "Or else Kronos would still be here!"

"Oh, please." Nico said, rolling his eyes. "I doubt you did anything useful. You probably just gutted a teddy bear and shouted, 'I will destroy with stuffing!'"

Everyone burst out laughing, except Octavian who was glaring at Nico.**  
**

**"Is there anything I can do?" I asked. Tyson shook his head sadly. "We are arming the mermaids. **

"Terrifying." Nico said, sarcastically.

Hazel glared at him, and starting reading.

"Amazing how you can control him with a glare." Thalia muttered to Hazel, who smirked at Nico.

**They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow." He looked at his sword blade and sighed. "Old spirits are protecting the bad boat."  
**

"Bad boat?" everyone echoed.**  
**

**"The Princess Andromeda?" I said. "Luke's boat?"  
**

"Ah," Thalia said. "That bad boat."**  
**

**"Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy's storms. Otherwise he would smash it."  
**

**"Smashing it would be good."  
**

**Tyson perked up, as if he'd just had another thought. "Annabeth! Is she there?"  
**

Thalia and Nico winced.**  
**

**"Oh, well…" My heart felt like a bowling ball. Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter). **

"Understatement of the century." Nico and Thalia said at the same time.

**I didn't have the heart to tell him she was missing. He'd start crying so bad he'd probably put out his fires.**

This caused a round of chuckles.**  
**

**"Well, no… she's not here right now."  
**

**"Tell her hello!" He beamed. "Hello to Annabeth!"  
**

**"Okay." I fought back a lump in my throat. "I'll do that."  
**

**"And, Percy, don't worry about the bad boat. It is going away."  
**

**"What do you mean?"  
**

**"Panama Canal! Very far away."**

Everyone frowned. Why would the boat be going there?**  
**

**I frowned. Why would Luke take his demon-infested cruise ship all the way down there? The last time we'd seen him, he'd been cruising along the East Coast, recruiting half-bloods and training his monstrous army.  
**

**"All right," I said, not feeling reassured. "That's… good. I guess."**

"I'm not too sure either." Reyna mumbled.**  
**

**In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something I couldn't make out. Tyson flinched.  
**

**"Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Brother!"  
**

**"Okay, tell Dad—" But before I could finish, the vision shimmered and faded. I was alone again in my cabin, feeling even lonelier than before. **

**I was pretty miserable at dinner that night.  
**

**I mean, the food was excellent as usual. You can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets. **

Dakota nearly started drooling at that.

**The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but we all had to sit with our cabin mates, which meant I was alone at the Poseidon table. Thalia sat alone at the Zeus table, but we couldn't sit together. Camp rules. **

"That sucks." Reyna said, frowning.

"You have _no_ idea." Nico and Thalia mumbled.

**At least the Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes cabins had a few people each. Nico sat with the Stoll brothers, since new campers always got stuck in the Hermes cabin if their Olympian parent was unknown. The Stoll brothers seemed to be trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic. **

"Is it?" Hazel asked.

"As if." Nico snorted, then blushed, realizing what he said. "Um...I mean...uh..." he huffed as Thalia started laughing at him.

**I hoped Nico didn't have any money to lose.  
**

"Nah." Nico said, still red. "No money."

"Just Mythomagic figures and cards." Hazel teased, and Nico turned a brighter red.**  
**

**The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoe sat at the head like she was the mama. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. I thought she looked a lot nicer when she smiled. Bianca di Angelo seemed to be having a great time. **

Nico looked down for a moment, then continued.

**She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who'd picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind.  
**

Nico gave a faint smile.**  
**

**When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty halfhearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception. Afterward, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early, winter lights out. I was exhausted, which meant I fell asleep easily. That was the good part. The bad part was, I had a nightmare, and even by my standards it was a whopper.  
**

"Nightmares are the worst." Thalia and Nico mumbled, speaking from experience.**  
**

**Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above—just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave. Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums.  
**

**"Thorn!" Annabeth cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.  
**

**She gasped.  
**

**There was Luke. **

Thalia's face twisted into a look of...pain?...or...sadness? Maybe grief?

**And he was in pain. He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat, "Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"  
**

"You don't deserve her help." Thalia hissed.

Nico placed a comfortingly hand on her shoulder.**  
**

**She ran forward.  
**

**I tried to cry out: **_**He's a traitor! Don't trust him!**_

Thalia winced.

**But my voice didn't work in the dream. Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second she hesitated.  
**

**"What happened?" she asked.  
**

**"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."  
**

"What's killing him?" Dakota asked.

No one answered.**  
**

**I couldn't see what was wrong with him. He seemed to be struggling against some invisible curse, as though the fog were squeezing him to death.  
**

**"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt.  
**

"You shouldn't." Thalia mumbled, and the Romans looked at her confused.**  
**

**"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."  
**

_**Let him die**_**, I wanted to scream. Luke had tried to kill us in cold blood too many times. He didn't deserve anything from Annabeth. Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake.  
**

Reyna gasped. That's what he was holding up...

Everyone looked at her confused, but she just waved her hand in a _continue_ guesture.**  
**

**Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.  
**

Thalia gave a faint smile. That was Annabeth. Stubborn as always. Just like Percy..._Oh, Percy._ she thought. _Where are you?_**  
**

**Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.  
**

**"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.  
**

**Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.  
**

**"I knew I could count on you." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth.  
**

Gwen gasped. "How dare he!"

Dakota frowned. "That was rude."**  
**

**"HELP ME!" she pleaded, "Oh, don't worry," Luke said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."  
**

Nico and Thalia glared at the book. They knew that he changed in the end...it was just hard hearing about it again.**  
**

**The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground. I sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in my cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring. The clock on my nightstand read just after a dream, but I was sure of two things: Annabeth was in terrible danger. **

**And Luke was responsible.**

"Well," Nico said, slamming the book closed. "That's the end of that very happy chapter."

Everyone stared at him.

"I was being SARCASTIC!" Nico exclaimed, and everyone looked away.

Suddenly, there was a bright light that covered the entire field.

The light died down, and boy around 16 was thrown down on the ground.

When he got up, he groaned. He had sea green eyes, jet black hair, and he looked like he's been living on the streets.

"Percy?" Thalia and Nico said, wide-eyed.

The boy looked over to Thalia and Nico and said, "Do I know you?"

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun!**

**Yes...I know...BIG cliffie!**

**You should thank _Random person_!**

**It was her idea to bring in Percy from the Son of Neptune!**

**Thanks _Random person_!^^**

**Review and I'll try and update ASAP!**

**Here's the poll answers:**

**Nico: 8 (my fav too!^^)**

**Thalia: 5**

**Percy: 2**

**Frank: 2**

**Reyna: 1**

**Luke: 1**

**Apollo: 1**

**Hazel: 1**

**Annabeth: 1**

**Beckendorf: 1**

**Jason: 1**

**By the way peoples!**

**I changed my profile name!**

**It's now FanFictionLover13!^^**


	7. Percy?

**Heeeey! ^^**

**Thanks to all those nice reviews I got!**

**They made me happy!**

**As for the rude ones...well, I won't say anything.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

"Percy?" Thalia and Nico said, wide-eyed.

The boy looked over to Thalia and Nico and said, "Do I know you?"

Thalia was the first to get out of her daze.

"Percy?" she repeated, getting up and walking towards the boy. "I-is that really you?"

The boy took a step back, and put his hands up in a defensive position.

Suddenly, Reyna gasped. _That's why Percy sounded so familiar._ she thought. _He's the one who caused me and my sister so much pain..._

Thalia and Nico just ignored her, and kept staring at the boy, not believing it...

"Look." the boy said, eyes darting around, looking for an exit. "I don't know who you are, and for all I know, you could be the gorgons in disguise again." he took another step back. "So...I'm just gonna go." and with that, he turned around and started to run, leaving Thalia completely and utterly confused.

But, before Percy could get far, Nico shadow-traveled in front of him.

Percy skittered to a stop, almost crashing into Nico.

"Hold on." Nico said. "You...you don't know who we are? Who I am?"

"Look, man." Percy said, backing up again. "I barely know who _I_ am."

"You don't know Thalia?" Nico continued. "Or Grover? Or Annabeth?"

Percy froze when Nico said Annabeth.

"You...you know Annabeth?" Percy asked, looking at Nico and Thalia.

Nico frowned. "You remember Annabeth?"

"She...she's the only person I remember." Percy admitted.

"We know Annabeth!" Thalia said, moving towards Nico and Percy. "She's your girlfriend!"

Percy looked between Thalia and Nico, as if debating whether they're lying or not.

"Why am I here? And where is here?" Percy asked.

Nico and Thalia looked at each other, then Hazel spoke up.

"We're reading books about you." she said. "From the past. This is when you meet Nico, as I'm told."

Percy being confused would be an understatement.

"Books?" he said. "About _me_?"

"I know," Thalia said, swinging an arm around Percy. "I was surprised too."

Percy got a glazed look in his eyes, and then fell unconscious.

"Percy!" Thalia exclaimed, catching him before he fell to the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Nico asked, walking next to Thalia.

"I dunno." she said, laying Percy on the ground, then checking his pulse. "He's breathing. I think he just fainted."

Nico knitted his eyebrows together. "Why?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

Nico shrugged, then looked over at the Romans who were still confused.

"Um..." Nico said. "We should explain..."

After many explanations later...

"Why didn't you tell us that Jackson was missing from your filthy, little Greek camp?" Octavian sneered

Thalia and Nico glared at him, and he backed down.

"Percy was missing from camp since October." Nico said, turning to the other Romans. "Annabeth, his girlfriend, contacted me-"

"And me." Thalia interrupted.

"Whatever." Nico said. "Annabeth contacted me and Thalia, who was with the Hunters-"

"Where were you?" Hazel interrupted.

Nico shrugged. "New Orleans."

"Why?"

"The graveyard they have there," Nico said. "Is awesome. Anyways, back on topic. Annabeth told us that Percy is missing, and that she needs help to find him. So, we did the natural thing. We helped her, seeing as Percy was our cousin, and we'd been through some tough times together."

"Like what?" Dakota asked.

Thalia and Nico exchanged nervous looks.

"Private." Thalia said.

Before the Romans could say or ask anything else, Percy groaned.

Thalia and Nico rushed over to him, as he(Percy) sat up.

"Percy?" Nico said, hesitantly.

Percy looked at him, as if debating whether or not to answer.

"...Nico?" Percy asked, and Nico held his breath, shocked. "It's Nico...right?"

Nico looked downcast. "Yeah..."

"Remember me?" Thalia asked, butting in.

Percy blinked, then engulfed Thalia in a hug. "Thalia!"

Thalia laughed, and returned the hug.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

Percy opened his mouth to answer, then frowned. "That's weird...I forget."

Nico, who had been looking downcast, his head snapped up. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Percy frowned again. "I was fighting Gorgons. Then I slid down a cliff, and was engulfed in a bright light."

"Gorgons?" Thalia and Nico gaped.

Thalia shook her head. "Leave it to you to have Medusa's sisters find you when you have amnesia."

There was a moment of silence...

"Sooo," Percy said, shifting. "Why, exactly, are we reading books about me?"

"Because Juno said so." Reyna said.

"Juno?" Percy said blankly.

"Roman form of Hera." Thalia said, frowning at the mention of Hera.

"...oh."

"Why do you remember Thalia, but not me?" Nico spoke up, daring to ask the unspoken question.

Percy blinked. "Am I supposed to know you?"

"Yes!" Nico exclaimed. "You are! You're the one that saved me from Dr. Thorn! You're the one-"

Thalia put a hand on Nico's shoulder, stopping him from revealing the story.

Nico shrugged her hand off, and walked over to his spot.

Nico's outburst just made Percy confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I barely know you."

"What's the last thing you remember of me?" Nico asked, looking up at Percy.

Percy frowned. "A little boy playing with trading cards and little dolls."

Nico turned red as the others laughed.

_He just _had_ to remember that part._ Nico thought, mentally groaning.

* * *

**Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! ****Sorry! Sorry!**

**Sorry it took so long for me to update!**

**But, It's the week of rice babies and they are so annoying! Grrr...**

**Anyways, sorry for my outburst and my taking so long to update.**

**Soooo, to apologize, here are some cookies!**

**(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)****(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)**

**Enjoy! ^-^**


	8. An Old Dead Friend Comes To Visit

**Hey peeps!**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews!**

**They made me and Nico happy!**

**Nico: ^^**

**Me: Seeeeee? He's happy!**

**Nico and me: Review!**

* * *

_He just _had _to remember that part._ Nico thought, mentally groaning.

"Soooo," Percy said, sitting next to Thalia and Nico. "Who's reading?"

"I will." Gwen said, taking the book off the ground.

"**And Old Dead Friend Comes To Visit**" she read, but was interrupted by Dakota.

"What does that mean?"

Gwen rolled her eyes, and continued.

**The next morning after breakfast, I told Grover about my dream. We sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, **

Thalia and Nico snorted.

"It's not like they ever get caught." Nico explained to the questioning stares.

**but they hardly ever did. Usually the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.  
**

"Poor faun." Gwen said.

"Satyr." Percy frowned.

Thalia and Nico looked at him and he shifted.**  
**

**When I told Grover my nightmare, he started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur.  
**

**"A cave ceiling collapsed on her?" he asked.  
**

**"Yeah. What the heck does that mean?"  
**

**Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Zoe dreamed—"  
**

**"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoe had a dream like that?"  
**

**"I… I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked."  
**

"How does he know this?" Frank blinked.**  
**

**"Wait, how do you know this?"**

Everyone looked at Frank then at Percy, and back again.

They both shrugged.**  
**

**Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."  
**

"He WHAT!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Why would you care?" Percy asked, confused. "I thought you hated the Hunters.

Thalia went silent, as Nico snickered. She glared at Nico, and whacked him on the back of his head.

"Ow!" Nico exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"You."

Nico pouted as the others laughed at their exchange.**  
**

**"What for?"  
**

**"Just to be, you know, near them."  
**

"_cough_stalker_coughcough_." someone coughed.**  
**

**"You're a stalker with hooves."  
**

Everyone snickered at that.**  
**

**"I am not! Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."  
**

**I tried to imagine that. Argus was the head of security for camp—a big blond dude with eyes all over his body. He rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on. I wouldn't want to place bets on a fight between him and Zoe Nightshade.**

"Ditto." Thalia and Nico said.**  
**

**"What did she say?" I asked.  
**

**Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble **

Cue flinch from Thalia.

**and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout… I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her—" **

"He talked?" Percy asked with wide eyes, and Nico and Thalia snickered.

**"Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble?"  
**

**"I… well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and—"**

"What!" Thalia, Nico, and Percy exclaimed.

"He officially lost all his respect gained from me." Nico said, seriously, as the others howled with laughter.**  
**

**"He wears curlers in his tail?"  
**

This caused another round of laughter.**  
**

**Grover covered his mouth.  
**

**"Sorry," I said. "Go on."  
**

**"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said…" Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"  
**

"What does he mean lost? Like she needs directions?" Percy asked, and Gwen looked at him weirdly.

"What?"

"Nothing..."**  
**

**"What do you mean lost? Like she needs directions?"  
**

"That was weird..."**  
**

**"No. I think she meant gone. Taken. Kidnapped."**

"Oh..." Percy trailed off.

**"Kidnapped?" I tried to get my mind around that idea. **

"Still am." Percy muttered.

**"How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"  
**

The Romans, sans Octavian, turned to Reyna.

She shrugged.**  
**

**"Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone."  
**

**"But she was like, the goddess of flowers." **

**Grover looked offended. "Springtime."  
**

**"Whatever. Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?"  
**

**Grover shook his head miserably. "I don't know. Kronos?"  
**

The Greeks flinched at the mention of him.**  
**

**"He can't be that powerful already. Can he?" The last time we'd seen Kronos, he'd been in tiny pieces. Well… we hadn't actually seen him. Thousands of years ago, after the big Titan—God war, the gods had sliced him to bits with his own scythe and scattered his remains in Tartarus, which is like the gods' bottomless recycling bin for their enemies. Two summers ago, Kronos had tricked us to the very edge of the pit and almost pulled us in. **

Gwen gasped. "What?!"

Percy flinched at the memory.

**Then last summer, on board Luke's demon cruise ship, we'd seen a golden coffin, where Luke claimed he was summoning the Titan Lord out of the abyss, bit by bit, every time someone new joined their cause. Kronos could influence people with dreams and trick them, but I didn't see how he could physically overcome Artemis if he was still like a pile of evil bark mulch.  
**

Everyone laughed at the mental image that it put in their heads.

"You sure have a weird way of putting things." Hazel laughed.**  
**

**"I don't know," Grover said. "I think somebody would know if Kronos had re-formed. The gods would be more nervous. But still, it's weird, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like—"  
**

**"They're connected," I said. Over in the frozen meadow, a satyr skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She giggled and held out her arms as he ran toward her. Pop! She turned into a Scotch pine and he kissed the trunk at top speed, "Ah, love," Grover said dreamily.  
**

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Gwen asked, curiously.

Before Percy could say 'No', Thalia and Nico said, "Yes."

Percy blinked. "Since when?"

Nico frowned. "Uh...I think since your 3rd summer at Camp Half-Blood."

"Oh..."**  
**

**I thought about Zoe's nightmare, which she'd had only a few hours after mine.  
**

**"I've got to talk to Zoe," I said.  
**

**"Um, before you do…" Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. "You remember what you said—about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think they might've been scouting us."**

"Stalkers." Nico coughed.

"Shut up." Thalia grumbled.**  
**

**"Scouting us? What do you mean?"  
**

**He gave me the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Inside were pictures of young maidens doing hunter stuff, chasing monsters, shooting bows. There were captions like: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! and A BOY-FREE TOMORROW! **

"The Hunters of Dia-I mean, Artemis, have brochures?" Reyna said, raising an eyebrow.

**"I found that in Annabeth's backpack," Grover said.  
**

**I stared at him. "I don't understand."**

"When do you?" Thalia snorted, causing Percy to glare and the others to laugh.**  
**

**"Well, it seems to me… maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining."  
**

**I'd like to say I took the news well.  
**

**The truth was, I wanted to strangle the Hunters of Artemis one eternal maiden at a time.**

"Aww." Gwen squealed. "You're in love!"

Percy gave a small smile. He was learning more about Annabeth, which is good. But, apparently, he didn't know he loved her back then...**  
**

**The rest of the day I tried to keep busy, but I was worried sick about Annabeth. I went to javelin-throwing class, but the Ares camper in charge chewed me out after I got distracted and threw the javelin at the target before he got out of the way. **

**I apologized for the hole in his pants, but he still sent me packing.**

Everyone burst out laughing at that as Percy turned a light pink, but he laughed nonetheless.**  
**

**I visited the pegasus stables, but Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin was having an argument with one of the Hunters, and I decided I'd better not get involved.**

"Good idea." Nico and Thalia said at the same, remembering Silena.**  
**

**After that, I sat in the empty chariot stands and sulked. Down at the archery fields, Chiron was conducting target practice. I knew he'd be the best person to talk to. Maybe he could give me some advice, but something held me back. I had a feeling Chiron would try to protect me, like he always did. He might not tell me everything he knew.**

Percy sighed, frustrated.**  
**

**I looked the other direction. At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Mr. D and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece. **

"Wait, what?" the Romans said.

"The actual Golden Fleece?" Frank said, shocked.

Thalia, Percy, and Nico nodded.

"Thieves!" Octavian accused, pointing a finger at the 3. "You stole the Golden Fleece!"

"Is he always like this?" Percy asked.

"Like what?" Thalia asked, hoping for a amusing answer.

"An idiot." Percy answered, bluntly.

Octavian spluttered with anger as Reyna said, "All the time. And you never get used to it."

Everyone burst out laughing at that, and Octavian huffed in annoyance.

**Then it occurred to me: no one would be in the Big House. There was someone else… something else I could ask for guidance.  
**

"Some_thing_ else?" Gwen questioned.

Thalia, Nico, and Percy shivered at the remembrance of the old Oracle.**  
**

**My blood was humming in my ears as I ran into the house and took the stairs. I'd only done this once before, and I still had nightmares about it. I opened the trap door and stepped into the attic.  
**

"Okay..." Gwen said slowly. "You're stepping inside the attic to look for something that will give you guidance..."

"It does sound weird when you put it like that..." Percy said, grinning.**  
**

**The room was dark and dusty and cluttered with junk, just like I remembered. There were shields with monster bites out of them, and swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.  
**

"Why would you need a stuffed harpy?" Dakota said.

The 3 Greeks shrugged.**  
**

**Over by the window, sitting on a three-legged stool, was the shriveled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed hippie dress. The Oracle.  
**

"You have an _Oracle_?" the Romans questioned.

"Yep," Percy said, popping the 'P'.

"Pretty much an Octavian, but better." Nico grinned.

Octavian spluttered with indigence, causing the others to laugh.**  
**

**I made myself walk toward her. I waited for green mist to billow from the mummy's mouth, like it had before, but nothing happened.  
**

**"Hi," I said. "Uh, what's up?"  
**

Thalia and Nico laughed.

"Only you would ask the Oracle 'what's up?'" Thalia grinned.

Percy just shrugged and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.**  
**

**I winced at how stupid that sounded. **

"Then you must wince a lot." Nico said slyly. "Cause you certainly say a lot of stupid things."

"Hey!"

"It's true you know."

"Thalia! Not you too!"

**Not much could be "up" when you're dead and stuck in the attic. But I knew the spirit of the Oracle was in there somewhere. I could feel a cold presence in the room, like a coiled sleeping snake.  
**

**"I have a question," I said a little louder. "I need to know about Annabeth. How can I save her?"  
**

"Aww," Gwen cooed, causing Percy to go a light pink. "You really care about her!"

"Of course I do!" Percy defended, still pink in the face. "She's one of my best friends!"

"That's a girl." Gwen pointed out. "You know, statistics say that 98% of boys who are best friends with a girl end up being with that girl."

"Uh.." Percy avoided everyone's eyes. "Could you just continue reading?"

Gwen shot him a grin and continued.**  
**

**No answer. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, lighting the dust motes dancing in the air. I waited longer. Then I got angry. I was being stonewalled by a corpse.  
**

Everyone snorted at the thought.**  
**

**"All right," I said. "Fine. I'll figure it out myself."  
**

"Percy? Finding out something by himself?" Thalia said, shocked.

"Preposterous!" Nico exclaimed, as if morally offended.

"Thanks guys." Percy sulked.

"You're welcome." Thalia and Nico said together.**  
**

**I turned and bumped into a big table full of souvenirs. It seemed more cluttered than the last time I was here. Heroes stored all kinds of stuff in the attic: quest trophies they no longer wanted to keep in their cabins, or stuff that held painful memories. I knew Luke had stored a dragon claw somewhere up here—the one that had scarred his face.  
**

"Who's Luke?" Reyna asked, looking at Thalia.

Thalia gave pained look, and looked away.**  
**

**There was a broken sword hilt labeled: **_**This broke and Leroy got killed. 1999.**_**  
**

"Who's Leroy?" several people questioned.**  
**

**Then I noticed a pink silk scarf with a label attached to it. I picked up the tag and tried to read it: **

_**SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE **_

_**RECOVERED AT WATERLAND, DENVER, CO., **_

_**BY ANNABETH CHASE AND PERCY JACKSON**_

**I stared at the scarf. I'd totally forgotten about it. Two years ago, Annabeth had ripped this scarf out of my hands and said something like,**_** Oh, no. No love magic for you!**_

"Aww," Gwen sighed, pouting. "I bet that would make you less oblivious."

Percy turned red and Thalia and Nico roared with laughter.

**I'd just assumed she'd thrown it away. And yet here it was. She'd kept it all this time? And why had she stashed it in the attic? I turned to the mummy. She hadn't moved, but the shadows across her face made it look like she was smiling gruesomely.  
**

The Greeks shivered, especially Percy.**  
**

**I dropped the scarf and tried not to run toward the exit.  
**

"Coward." Octavian sneered.

Percy glared right back at him. "I bet you would have already ran away." he retorted, annoyed with the Augur.**  
**

**That night after dinner, I was seriously ready to beat the Hunters at capture the flag. It was going to be a small game: only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di Angelo, **

Nico winced, earning a concerned look from Hazel.

**and about the same number of campers.  
**

**Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either.  
**

"The hunters always share their nightmares and secrets...unless it has to do with boys," Thalia said.

"Speaking from experience?" Gwen said, grinning happily.

Thalia rolled her eyes, unblushingly, and shook her head, much to Gwen's disappointment.**  
**

**Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying. I guess Zoe had told them about her nightmare.  
**

"Of course." Thalia said.**  
**

**On our team, we had Beckendorf **

Nico and Thalia winced.

**and two other Hephaestus guys, a few from the Ares cabin (though it still seemed strange that Clarisse wasn't around), the Stoll brothers and Nico from Hermes cabin, and a few Aphrodite kids. It was weird that the Aphrodite cabin wanted to play. **

**Usually they sat on the sidelines, chatted, and checked their reflections in the river and stuff, but when they heard we were fighting the Hunters, they were raring to go.  
**

**"I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" Silena Beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armor. "I'll pulverize them!"  
**

Thalia gave a small smile.

"You go girl!" Gwen shouted, cheering for her half-sister.**  
**

**That left Thalia and me.  
**

"Here comes trouble." Nico muttered, earning himself 2 glares.**  
**

**"I'll take the offense," Thalia volunteered. "You take defense."  
**

"Ugh, I hate defense." Percy muttered, ignoring the amused looks.**  
**

**"Oh." I hesitated, because I'd been about to say the exact same thing, only reversed. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"  
**

"He has a point." Reyna couldn't help but admit.**  
**

**Thalia already had Aegis on her arm, and even our own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa. **

"Aegis is _way_ better than Riptide." Thalia boasted, earning an eye-roll from Percy and Nico.

"Riptide is better," was all Percy said, not even putting up much of a fight.

"Please," Nico said with an eye-roll. "My Stygian Iron sword is better then Aegis _and_ Riptide put together."

Percy frowned. "I just noticed that your sword doesn't have a name."

Nico and Thalia face-palmed.

**"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense," Thalia said. "Besides, you've had more practice at defense."  
**

**I wasn't sure if she was teasing me. I'd had some pretty bad experiences with defense on capture the flag. My first year, Annabeth had put me out as a kind of bait, and I'd almost been gored to death with spears and killed by a hellhound.  
**

"What?!" Thalia exclaimed, wide-eyed. "I never even _knew_ that!"

Percy turned a light red and shrugged, ignoring the incredulous looks.**  
**

**"Yeah, no problem," I lied.**

**"Cool." Thalia turned to help some of the Aphrodite kids, who were having trouble suiting up their armor without breaking their nails. Nico di Angelo ran up to me with a big grin on his face.  
**

Nico groaned in embarrassment, earning quite a few laughs.**  
**

**"Percy, this is awesome!" His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. **

"You had looked ridiculous!" Thalia laughed. Nico's face turned a light red and several more people laughed, while Octavian just sneered, muttering something about 'idiotic Greeks'.

**I wondered if there was any way I'd looked that ridiculous when I'd first arrived. Unfortunately, I probably had.  
**

"You had," Thalia and Nico said.

"How do you know?" Percy questioned. "You weren't even there!"

"We have our sources," Thalia said. Nico knew she mean Annabeth, but Percy didn't know that.**  
**

**Nico lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"  
**

"Even as a boy you liked death." Octavian sneered. "Well that proves you _are_ Death's child."

"Actually, I'm Hades's child, not Death's." Nico corrected, earning a glare from the Augur.**  
**

**"Well… no."  
**

**"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"  
**

"Only to a certain limit," Thalia explained.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I already knew that. I just didn't know that then."**  
**

**"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides—"  
**

**"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and—"  
**

"Just because you are a child of the underworld doesn't mean you can resurrect people anytime you want,"" Thalia fake scolded.

"I didn't know back then!"

**"Nico, this is serious. Real swords. These can hurt."**

"I swear, you made me a little disappointed in your funness."

"Funness isn't a word."

"Do I look like I care?"**  
**

**He stared at me, a little disappointed, and I realized that I'd just sounded like my mother. Whoa. Not a good sign.**

"Why not, your mom's cool!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Yeah, but when she's like that..."**  
**

**I patted Nico on the shoulder. "Hey, it's cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast."  
**

**Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.  
**

**"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team—Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"  
**

**"Sweet," Nico whispered next to me. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"**

"Nope," Thalia said, grinning. Nico shot her an annoyed look.**  
**

**I was about to break it to him that he didn't, when Thalia said, "Blue team! Follow me!"  
**

**They cheered and followed. I had to run to catch up, and tripped over somebody's shield, so I didn't look much like a co-captain. More like an idiot. **

Everyone burst out laughing, except Octavian, cause he's too..._dignified_ to laugh.

"You always look like an idiot Kelp-Head," Thalia teased.

"Thanks so much." Percy said sarcastically.

**We set our flag at the top of Zeus's Fist. It's this cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn't let us call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for Zeus, who doesn't have much of a sense of humor.**

Again, everyone burst out laughing. Thunder rumbled, and they immediately stopped laughed, except for Thalia, who just kept laughing.

"Have you no respect?" Octavian hissed.

Thalia immediately stopped laughing and glared at the Augur. "Have you no manliness?"

Again, everyone burst out laughing as Octavian spluttered in outrage.**  
**

**Anyway, it was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.  
**

**I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.**

"Hey!" Nico complained. "I can fight!"

Thalia scoffed. "Not when you can barely lift a sword."**  
**

**"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that."  
**

**"Got it!"  
**

**"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise."**

"Honestly, now that I'm-" Thalia cut herself off and cleared her throat. "Erm...I mean, now that I've played against the Hunters, I realize how stupid our plan was..."

Percy and the Romans looked confused at her slip-up, while Nico just shook his head at her save.**  
**

**Everybody nodded. It sounded good, and Thalia said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.**

"Even though it didn't." Thalia muttered.

"Of course it didn't," Octavian sneered. "It was made by a _Greek._" he spat out the name like it was a disease.

Everyone glared at him, yes even the Romans.

"Octavian-" Reyna warned, but was cut off by Hazel before she could continue.

"I swear, I will hit you if you say one more word against the Greeks." Hazel threatened, and everyone stared at her surprised. She was usually so quiet.

Octavian spluttered in outrage, and was about to give back a biting retort, but Gwen continued reading very loudly, drowning out whatever he was going to say.**  
**

**Thalia looked at me. "Anything to add, Percy?"  
**

**"Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."  
**

**"And don't leave your post!" Thalia said.  
**

**"Unless you see a golden opportunity," I added.  
**

**Thalia scowled. "Just don't leave your post."  
**

**"Right, unless—"  
**

**"Percy!" She touched my arm and shocked me. I mean, everybody can give static shocks in the winter, but when Thalia does, it hurts. I guess it's because her dad is the god of lightning. She's been known to fry off people's eyebrows.**

"Speaking from experience." Dakota grinned.

"Sadly, yes."

"Well when you get pissed you could easily drown the entire camp, or create a giant hurricane that will swallow the entire of Long Island." Nico added.

"I don't get that pissed that often. I just create small hurricanes. No biggy." Percy shrugged, as if it were nothing.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," Thalia said, shaking her head.**  
**

**"Sorry," Thalia said, though she didn't sound particularly sorry. "Now, is everybody clear?"  
**

**Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began. Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia's group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.  
**

**I waited for something to happen. I climbed Zeus's Fist and had a good view over the forest. I remembered how the Hunters had stormed out of the woods when they fought the manticore, and I was prepared for something like that—one huge charge that could overwhelm us. But nothing happened.**

"We-I mean, they're not _that_ stupid," Thalia said, catching her slip-up. Only Reyna noticed and she shot Thalia a confused look.**  
**

**I caught a glimpse of Silena and her two scouts. They ran through a clearing, followed by five of the Hunters, leading them deep into the woods and away from Thalia. The plan seemed to be working. Then I spotted another clump of Hunters heading to the right, bows ready. They must've spotted Thalia.  
**

**"What's happening?" Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.**

"Trying, being the key word." Nico **  
**

**My mind was racing. Thalia would never get through, but the Hunters were divided.  
**

**With that many on either flank, their center had to be wide open. If I moved fast… I looked at Beckendorf. "Can you guys hold the fort?"**

"No!" Thalia exclaimed as Nico exclaimed, "Yes!"

"If you could, then why didn't you?" Thalia questioned, raising an eyebrow. Nico opened opened his mouth to say something, then closed it after a moment, not knowing what to say.**  
**

**Beckendorf snorted. "Of course."  
**

**"I'm going in."**

"Idiot!" Thalia exclaimed.

"I haven't done it yet!" Percy protested.**  
**

**The Stoll brothers and Nico cheered as I raced toward the boundary line.  
**

**I was running at top speed and I felt great. I leaped over the creek into enemy territory. I could see their silver flag up ahead, only one guard, who wasn't even looking in my direction.  
**

**I heard fighting to my left and right, somewhere in the woods. I had it made.**

"Not a chance." Thalia groaned, shaking her head.

"It was the Golden Opportunity!" Percy protested, not knowing what was going to happen.

"Still!"**  
**

**The guard turned at the last minute. It was Bianca di Angelo. Her eyes widened as I slammed into her and she went sprawling in the snow.  
**

Nico winced in pain and sympathy for his late sister.

**"Sorry!" I yelled. I ripped down the silver silk flag from the tree and took off.  
**

**I was ten yards away before Bianca managed to yell for help. I thought I was home free.  
**

**ZIP. A silvery cord raced across my ankles and fastened to the tree next to me. A trip wire, fired from a bow! Before I could even think about stopping, I went down hard, sprawling in the snow.**

"See!" Thalia exclaimed. "I told you to listen to me!"

"I repeat, I haven't done it yet!"**  
**

**"Percy!" Thalia yelled, off to my left. "What are you doing?"**

"Taking a 'golden opportunity', apparently." Thalia grumbled in annoyance. "You could've actually prevented Zoe from getting the flag."

Percy sighed. "I know I've already said it 2 times, but I HAVEN'T DONE IT YET!" he shouted. "And no, I couldn't. Zoe was in the hunt for over 2000 years. That is 1998 years more experience than me!"

"Wow Percy!" Nico said in shock. "I didn't know you could do such great math!"

"Shut it you."**  
**

**Before she reached me, an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed around her team. They started coughing and gagging. I could smell the gas from across the woods—the horrible smell of sulfur.**

Gwen wrinkled her nose. "Ew, fart arrows are so unsportsmanlike!"

"But they work so well!" Frank protested, speaking for the first time in a while.

"But they stink so much!"**  
**

**"No fair!" Thalia gasped. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!" **

Everyone blinked.

"Well..." Thalia said awkwardly. "That was weird..."

**I got up and started running again. Only a few more yards to the creek and I had the game. More arrows whizzed past my ears. A Hunter came out of nowhere and slashed at me with her knife, but I parried and kept running.  
**

**I heard yelling from our side of the creek. Beckendorf and Nico were running toward me. I thought they were coming to welcome me back, but then I saw they were chasing someone—Zoe Nightshade, racing toward me like a cheetah, dodging campers with no trouble. And she had our flag in her hands.**

"It's part of the Hunter's training to be fast," Thalia scoffed. "So of course they're fast."

"How do you know this?" Frank asked.

Thalia opened her mouth, then closed it, refusing to say anything.**  
**

**"No!" I yelled, and poured on the speed.  
**

**I was two feet from the water when Zoe bolted across to her own side, slamming into me for good measure. The Hunters cheered as both sides converged on the creek. Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking grim. He had the Stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor Stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.**

Several people laughed, while the others winced in sympathy.**  
**

**"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced without pleasure. Then he muttered, "For the fifty-sixth time in a row."**

"Wow..." the Romans and Percy muttered.**  
**

**"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia yelled, storming toward me. She smelled like rotten eggs, **

"Ew," Dakota said, wrinkling his nose.

**and she was so mad that blue sparks flickered on her armor. Everybody cringed and backed up because of Aegis. It took all my willpower not to cower.  
**

**"What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?" she bellowed.  
**

**I balled my fists. I'd had enough bad stuff happen to me for one day. I didn't need this.  
**

**"I got the flag, Thalia!" I shook it in her face. "I saw a chance and I took it!"  
**

**"I WAS AT THEIR BASE!" Thalia yelled. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would've won."**

Thalia scoffed at her past's ignorance. "No we wouldn't have."**  
**

**"You had too many on you!"  
**

**"Oh, so it's my fault?"  
**

**"I didn't say that."  
**

**"Argh!" Thalia pushed me, and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water. Some of the campers gasped. A couple of the Hunters stifled laughs.  
**

**"Sorry!" Thalia said, turning pale. "I didn't mean to—"  
**

**Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek, blasting into Thalia's face and dousing her from head to toe.**

"Ooooh," Dakota grinned. "Big Two fight."

Percy, Thalia, and Nico stared at him, then shook their heads.**  
**

**I stood up. "Yeah," I growled. "I didn't mean to, either."  
**

**Thalia was breathing heavily. "Enough!" Chiron ordered.  
**

**But Thalia held out her spear. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?"  
**

**Somehow, it was okay when Annabeth called me that—at least, I'd gotten used to it—but hearing it from Thalia was not cool.**

"Awww," Thalia cooed as Percy's face turned red. "You're in love!"

Percy spluttered in protest, trying to deny it, but his protests were unheard, for everyone was laughing too hard to listen.**  
**

**"Bring it on, Pinecone Face!"**

Percy grinned, still a little red in the face.**  
**

**I raised Riptide, but before I could even defend myself, Thalia yelled, and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into my chest.**

Dakota whistled.

"Wow..." Frank said. "That's powerful..."

"Wait for it..." Thalia said, earning several confused looks.**  
**

**I sat down hard. There was a burning smell; I had a feeling it was my clothes.  
**

**"Thalia!" Chiron said. "That is enough!"  
**

**I got to my feet and willed the entire creek to rise. It swirled up, hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.**

Dakota's jaw dropped.

"Woah..." Hazel said, wide-eyed. "_That's_ powerful."

"As much as I hate to admit it..." Thalia sighed. "Percy's more powerful than us."

"He might match Jason's skills," Reyna admitted.

Thalia's eyes widened. "Jason?"

Reyna nodded confused.

"Jason...what's his last name?" Thalia asked, nervously wondering if he was the same Jason.

Reyna frowned. "We...don't know. That's weird...I remember him telling me it...but..."

"Is like it's erased from from your memories?" Percy spoke up.

Reyna gave a slow nod. "Yeah...that's what it is!"

Percy sighed. "I know the feeling."**  
**

**"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.  
**

**I was about to hurl it at Thalia when I saw something in the woods. I lost my anger and my concentration all at once. The water splashed back into the creekbed. Thalia was so surprised she turned to see what I was looking at.**

"Of course I was surprised!" Thalia exclaimed. "You were about to hurl hundreds of gallons of water at me, but then you suddenly stopped and stared behind me!"**  
**

**Someone… something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.**

Percy's eyes widened. "She...she _walked_?" he squeaked out.**  
**

**"This is impossible," Chiron said. I'd never heard him sound so nervous. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."**

"The...Oracle?" Hazel questioned, not sure yet.**  
**

**And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.**

"The Oracle." Hazel confirmed, wondering how it...she could move.**  
**

**None of us dared move. Then her voice hissed inside my head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.**

"It was creepy," Nico shuddered. "And this is _me_ talking."**  
**

_**I am the spirit of Delphi,**_** the voice said. **_**Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.**_

"Geez," Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "Apollo sure does sound big-headed enough to put that in."**  
**

**The Oracle regarded me with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. **_**Approach, Seeker, and ask.**_

"Hold up," Percy frowned. "I asked the Oracle what to do and she didn't answer me. But she then took a little stroll to see what _Zoe_ wants? How fair is that!"**  
**

**Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"**

"She is very loyal." Reyna noted.**  
**

**The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. The Oracle spoke: **

_**Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, **_

_**One shall be lost in the land without rain, **_

Nico and Thalia winced, but no one noticed, being to wrapped up in the book.

_**The bane of Olympus shows the trail, **_

_**Campers and Hunters combined prevail, **_

_**The Titan's curse must one withstand, **_

_**And one shall perish by a parent's hand.**_

Everyone pondered over this for a few moments, wondering the prophecy could mean.**  
**

**Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years. **

"That's the end of the chapter," Gwen said quietly, setting the book down.

"Well," Nico said, brightly. "I learned one thing from this,"

"You _learned_ something?"

"Shut up Thalia. I learned...that an Oracle is _waaay_ better than an Augur."

Octavian gasped. "How dare you! Filthy Greek!"

_SMACK!_

Octavian held his cheek, gaping at the daughter of Pluto along with everyone else.

"Hey," Hazel shrugged, blushing. "I said I would smack you if you said anything else bad against the Greeks, and I'm a woman of my word."

Everyone stared at her, then looked at Octavian, then back at Hazel, then back at Octavian. Then everyone burst into loud raucous laughter.

* * *

**Alright, I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so SO sorry that I haven't updated in like forever!**

**I promise that I will try to update every Friday, that Saturday at the latest, and Sunday at the _very_ latest.  
**

**Review?**


	9. Everybody Hates Me But The Horse

**Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews!**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO!**

* * *

_Previously:_

_Everyone stared at her, then looked at Octavian, then back at Hazel, then back at Octavian. Then everyone burst into loud raucous laughter. _

"R-remind to never anger you Hazel!" Nico grinned, laughing. Hazel blushed and grinned.

Octavian huffed. "Who's reading next?" he muttered in annoyance.

"I-I will." Thalia said, wiping away tears of mirth.

"**Everybody Hates Me But the Horse**" Thalia read. "I'm sure Grover still likes you." she added.

"Thanks Thalia," Percy said dryly.

**The least the Oracle could've done was walk back to the attic by herself.**

**Instead, Grover and I were elected to carry her. I didn't figure that was because we were the most popular.**

Percy shivered, making a face.

**"Watch her head!" Grover warned as we went up the stairs. But it was too late.**

_**Bonk**_**! I whacked her mummified face against the trapdoor frame and dust flew.**

"Whoops," Percy muttered, much to the amusement of Thalia and Nico.

**"Ah, man." I set her down and checked for damage. "Did I break anything?"**

**"I can't tell," Grover admitted.**

**We hauled her up and set her on her tripod stool, both of us huffing and sweating. Who knew a mummy could weigh so much?**

"Apparently not you," Nico joked.

Percy mock-glared at him. "Shut up. I wasn't expecting a young girl like that to weigh that much, okay?"

**I assumed she wouldn't talk to me, and I was right. I was relieved when we finally got out of there and slammed the attic door shut.**

"So glad to be of service," Percy shuddered.

Everyone either laughed or grinned in amusement.

**"Well," Grover said, "that was gross."**

"I second that," Gwen shuddered.

"You're not the one who carried her," Percy muttered.

**I knew he was trying to keep things light for my sake, but I still felt really down. The whole camp would be mad at me for losing the ****game**** to the Hunters, and then there was the new prophecy from the Oracle. It was like the spirit of Delphi had gone out of her way to exclude me. She'd ignored my question and walked half a mile to talk to Zoe. **_**And**_** she'd said nothing, not even a hint, about Annabeth.**

"That's pretty much what you said earlier," Hazel said in amusement. "Except in a different context."

Percy shrugged.

**"What will Chiron do?" I asked Grover.**

**"I wish I knew." He looked wistfully out the second-floor window at the rolling hills covered in snow. "I want to be out there."**

**"Searching for Annabeth?"**

"Awww!" Gwen squealed, causing everyone to hold their hands over their ears. "You can't get her off your mind!"

Percy blushed, much to Thalia and Nico's amusement.

**He had a little trouble focusing on me. Then he blushed. "Oh, right. That too. Of course."**

**"Why?" I asked. "What were you thinking?"**

"Pan." Thalia and Nico synchronized.

"Argh," Percy said, face-palming. "How could I forget that?"

"You've certainly forgotten a lot of things," Nico muttered.

"Huh?" Percy said, a confused look on his face.

"Nothing," Nico said, hastily.

**He clopped his hooves uneasily. "Just something the manticore said, about the Great Stirring. I can't help but wonder… if all those ancient powers are waking up, maybe… maybe not all of them are evil."**

**"You mean Pan."**

**I felt kind of selfish, because I'd totally forgotten about Grover's life ambition. **

"It's okay Percy." Thalia said sarcastically. "You just forgot Grover's life ambition so you could think about your few week ambition to save Annabeth. No problem with that at all."

Percy looked down, feeling guilty. "I haven't done it yet." he muttered.

**The nature god had gone missing two thousand years ago. He was rumored to have died, but the satyrs didn't believe that. They were determined to find him. They'd been searching in vain for centuries, and Grover was convinced he'd be the one to succeed. This year, with Chiron putting all the satyrs on emergency duty to find half-bloods, Grover hadn't been able to continue his search. It must've been driving him nuts.**

All the Romans were gaping at the book, wondering why the heck the fau-satyrs were being so useful.

"I wish out fauns were like that," Reyna mumbled, leaning against a tree.

"Satyr." Percy automatically corrected.

**"I've let the trail go cold," he said. "I feel restless, like I'm missing something really important. He's out there somewhere. I can just feel it."**

**I didn't know what to say. I wanted to encourage him, but I didn't know how. My optimism had pretty much been trampled into the snow out there in the woods, along with our capture-the-flag hopes.**

"Actually I think it got lost with Annabeth," Thalia said slyly.

Percy turned a bright red as Gwen squealed happily.

**Before I could respond, Thalia tromped up the stairs. She was officially not talking to me now, but she looked at Grover and said, "Tell Percy to get his butt downstairs."**

**"Why?" I asked.**

**"Did he say something?" Thalia asked Grover.**

"You're acting so childish," Nico said, shaking his head.

"You're the one to talk, shrimp." Thalia grinned, ruffling Nico's hair.

"Hey!" Nico exclaimed, pushing her hands away. "I'm not that short!"

Thalia scoffed. "Yeah you are. You're a very short 13 year old."

Nico glared at her. "I hate you."

"Love you too, little cousin."

**"Um, he asked why."**

**"Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy," she said. "Unfortunately, that includes Percy."**

**The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. **

"He should've done Kool Aid instead," Dakota said, shaking his head.

Percy grinned. "Maybe you should tell him that."

"Maybe I should!"

"...I was kidding."

"...me too?"

**Nobody drank that either.**

"I wonder why," Percy said, rolling his eyes.

**Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo (who had kind of become Zoe's personal assistant) took the other end. Thalia and Grover and I sat along the right, and the other head councilors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, **

Thalia and Nico flinched slightly at the mention of them, earning some confused looks.

**and the Stoll brothers—sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.**

**Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."**

"Oh yes," Frank grinned. "_Very_ positive."

**"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping.**

Everyone laughed at the silly satyr.

"Only Grover," Percy chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

**"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."**

**"And go where?" Chiron asked.**

**"West!" Bianca said. I was amazed at how different she looked after just a few days with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoe's now, so you could actually see her face. She had a splash of freckles across her nose, and her dark eyes vaguely reminded me of someone famous, but I couldn't think who. **

"Napoleon, Hitler, Hades," Nico muttered to himself, leaning against the tree behind him. The shadows seemed to gather around him, making him barely visible. The Romans, sans Hazel and Frank, looked at him cautiously, as if expecting him to attack at any moment.

**She looked like she'd been working out, and her skin glowed faintly, like the other Hunters, as if she'd been taking showers in liquid moonlight. **

"Liquid moonlight?" Thalia questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it makes sense," Percy said, defending his future self. "Artemis is the goddess of the moon and they glow like the moon."

Thalia pondered over this for a moment, wondering if _she_ glowed too. "Fair enough," she responded, then continued reading.

**"You heard the prophecy. **_**Five shall go west to the goddess in chains**_**. We can get five hunters and go."**

"What about the second line of the prophecy?" Hazel frowned. "_Campers and Hunters combined prevail_. They're supposed to do this together."

Thalia shot her a weird look.

"What?"

"...just wait."

**"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."**

**"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "**_**Campers and Hunters combined prevail**_**. We're supposed to do this together."**

"That."

"Oh...well that was weird."

"To say the least."

**"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."**

**"**_**Your,**_**"** **Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said **_**thy**_ **in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."**

**Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. " **_**Yerrr**_**. We do not need **_**yerrr**_ **help."**

Everyone laughed, except for Nico who was still brooding in the shadows about Bianca.

**Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."**

**"I fear the prophecy says you **_**do**_** need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."**

**"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "**_**One shall be lost. One shall perish**_**. **

Nico and Thalia flinched.

**That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail **_**because**_ **you try to cooperate?"**

**"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"**

**Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."**

"Him? Helpful?" Percy scoffed. "Sure, and I'll save the world!"

Thalia and Nico tried not to laugh at the irony.

**"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"**

**Zoe grimaced, but I could tell Thalia had scored a point.**

"One for Thalia, zero for Zoe!" Nico announced, coming out of his depressing mood for a moment.

**"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."**

"The day after my supposed 16th birthday," Thalia muttered.

Percy's eyes widened. "Wait...does that mean that the prophecy will be-MMPF!" he got cut off as Thalia slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut it, Kelp Brains." she said, taking her hand off his mouth. "_They_ don't know." she indicated to the Romans, then continued reading before anyone could say anything else.

**"Oh, joy," Dionysus mutt****ered. "Another dull annual meeting."**

**"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."**

The Romans frowned.

"Is she saying that the gods don't work together?" Reyna frowned.

"Yerp," Thalia said.

**"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.**

**"Yes, Lord Dionysus."**

**Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."**

The Romans frowned again.

**"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."**

**"Three and two," I said.**

**Everybody looked at me. Thalia even forgot to ignore me.**

Nico gasped dramatically, earning himself a smack to the head, curtsey of Thalia.

**"We're supposed to have five," I said, feeling self-conscious. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."**

"_Way_ more than fair," Thalia grumbled, playing her act and not giving any away.

**Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.**

**"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."**

**Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take **_**all**_ **the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."**

**"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: **_**The bane of Olympus shows the trail**_**. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."**

"But I thought 3 was the sacred number." Percy said, confused.

Reyna's eyes widened in realization. "Then...2 people will die," she muttered to herself.

**Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. **

Everyone except Reyna and Octavian laughed. Octavian, cause he was too _mature_ (*snort*) to do it

**"This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."**

Thalia scoffed. Like Bessie was a _beast_.

**Everybody looked at Dionysus, I guess because he was the only god present and gods are supposed to know things. **

The 3 Greeks snorted.

"Yeah, but not Dionysus," Percy said, rolling his eyes.

Dakota frowned.

**He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a **_**young**_ **god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."**

**"Chiron," I said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"**

**Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."**

"What's more power than _Typhon_?" Percy gaped.

Thalia and Nico exchanged amused looks.

**"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. **

"I liked how he said _you_ and not we." Hazel grinned.

**(I liked how he said**_** you**_** and not we.****)**

Hazel and Percy blinked and awkwardly looked at each other, earning several laughs.

**"It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."**

**"**_**One shall be lost in the land without rain**_**."** **Beckendorf said. **

Nico harshly flinched at the mention of this.

**"If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."**

"Not a desert," Nico muttered, earning himself a concerned look from Hazel.

**There was a muttering of agreement.**

**"And **_**the Titan's curse must one withstand**_**," Silena said. **

This time, Thalia flinched and shot a nervous look towards Percy, who didn't see it.

**"What could that mean?"**

**I saw Chiron and Zoe exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it.**

**"**_**One shall perish by a parent's hand**_**," **

Thalia flinched again.

**Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"**

Percy frowned and snuck a look at Thalia. _Would Zeus ever..._

**There was heavy silence around the table.**

**I glanced at Thalia and wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was. Years ago, Chiron had had a prophecy about the next child of the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades—**

Everyone looked at Thalia, Percy, and Nico.

"Hey who's the oldest out of all 3 of you?" Frank randomly asked.

"Uh..." Percy blinked, not knowing what to say.

Thalia was about to say something but was interrupted by Nico, who yelled, "Spoilers!"

Thalia rolled her eyes and Nico grinned, earning some confused looks.

**who turned sixteen. Supposedly, that kid would make a decision that would save or destroy the gods forever. Because of that, the Big Three had taken an oath after World War II not to have any more kids. But Thalia and I had been born anyway, and now we were both getting close to sixteen.**

**I remembered a conversation I'd had last year with Annabeth. I'd asked her, if I was so potentially dangerous, why the gods didn't just kill me.**

_**Some of the gods would like to kill you**_**, she'd said. **_**But they're afraid of offending Poseidon**_**.**

"Thank gods for that," Percy muttered, himself some amused grins and laughs.

**Could an Olympian parent turn against his half-blood child? Would it sometimes be easier just to let them die? If there were ever any half-bloods who needed to worry about that, it was Thalia and me. I wondered if maybe I should've sent Poseidon that seashell pattern tie for Father's Day after all.**

**"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."**

**"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.**

Dakota frowned. _He wants deaths? What...what is wrong with my Greek dad!_

**Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of **_**Wine Connoisseur**_ **magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."**

"Sure," Percy said sarcastically.

**"Percy is right," Silena Beauregard said. "Two campers should go."**

**"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"**

"As if my half-sister would want to go anywhere with the _Hunters_!" Gwen scoffed, glaring at the book.

**Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"**

Gwen grinned. "Yeah! You go girl!" she exclaimed, much to the amusement of everyone else.

**"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"**

Gwen glared harshly at the book, causing Percy to wince.

"Don't glare at me," he protested. "It's Zoe who insulted you, not me."

**Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.**

**"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"**

**Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."**

**"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously.**

Everyone chuckled.

**Zoe nodded.**

**"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added..**

Everyone laughed again.

**"Yes," Zoe snapped. "Why?"**

**"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"**

Percy frowned. "They're up to something."

**I knew the Stolls were up to something. **

Everyone laughed.

"Looks like you don't change," Thalia chuckled.

"And you say that like its a bad thing." Percy said, raising any eyebrow.

"...touche."

**They always were. But I guess Zoe didn't know them as well as I did. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."**

**Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."**

**"You will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."**

Nico stared at the ground, hiding his tears. _Why couldn't she just listen to Bianca? I bet she would still be alive then..._

**Bianca closed her mouth. I felt kind of sorry for her. I remembered my first quest when I was twelve. I had felt totally unprepared. A little honored, maybe, but a lot resentful and plenty scared. **

"Resentful?" Hazel questioned. "Why resentful?"

Percy shrugged awkwardly.

**I figured the same things were running around in Bianca's head right now.**

**"And for campers?" Chiron asked. His eyes met mine, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking.**

**"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"**

Percy frowned. "What about Annabeth?"

Gwen squealed with happiness. "You get her off your mind!"

Percy blushed. "W-well yeah," he stuttered. "S-she's one of my best friends."

"And she'll be your _girlfriend_." Gwen sighed, much to the embarrassment of Percy and amusement of the others.

**Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."**

**"But he **_**is**_ **a camper," Thalia said. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"**

**"Absolutely!"**

"What's the point of having 2 trackers?" Frank questioned.

"A tracker's song is something only a satyr or someone like that could play." Thalia explained. "It's very useful."

Reyna frowned. Why weren't the fauns that useful?

**Zoe wavered. I didn't know what a tracker's song was, but apparently Zoe thought it was a good thing.**

"It is," Thalia agreed.

**"Very well," Zoe said. "And the second camper?"**

**"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.**

Percy frowned. _That means...that I can't go..._

**Now, okay, maybe my math skills weren't the best, but it suddenly occurred to me that we'd reached the number five, and I wasn't in the group. "Whoa, wait a sec," I said. "I want to go too."**

Percy nodded in agreement with his future self...or was is past?

**Thalia said nothing. Chiron was still studying me, his eyes sad.**

**"Oh," Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean… I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."**

**"He cannot," Zoe said. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."**

"What about Grover?" Percy demanded, angry with the fact that he couldn't help Annabeth, even if it was in the future.

**"You traveled here with me," I reminded her.**

**"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."**

**"What about Grover?" I demanded.**

**Zoe shook her head. "He does not count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."**

Even Percy couldn't help but laugh at that.

**"Hey!" Grover protested.**

"Poor Grover," Gwen said, frowning sympathetically.

"He's just a faun," Octavian sneered.

The 3 Greeks glared at him.

"Satyr," Percy corrected.

"And he's our friend," Thalia added, glaring at the Augur.

"He's a _faun_." Octavian sneered.

"He's our _friend_," Nico glared.

"Octavian," Reyna said, amusement leaking into her voice."I'd shut up if you don't want Hazel to hit you again."

Octavian flushed as everyone else burst out laughing.

**"I **_**have**_ **to go," I said. "I need to be on this quest."**

**"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"**

**I felt myself blushing. I hated that everyone was looking at me. "No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!"**

"Denial!" Gwen sang, earning a glare and blush from Percy.

**Nobody rose to my defense. Mr. D looked bored, still reading his magazine. Silena, the Stoll brothers, and Beckendorf were staring at the table. Bianca gave me a look of pity.**

Percy frowned. _Why isn't anyone defending me...?_

**"No," Zoe said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."**

"Jeez, what's she got against males?" Percy muttered. Thalia tensed.

**Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."**

**My ears were ringing as I sat down. I knew Grover and some of the others were looking at me sympathetically, but I couldn't meet their eyes. I just sat there as Chiron concluded the council.**

**"So be it," he said. "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."**

Thalia and Nico glanced at Percy, expecting him to make a sarcastic comment, but he didn't say anything.

**I didn't show up for dinner that night, which was a mistake, because Chiron and Grover came looking for me.**

"Couldn't you just hide in the lake or something?" Nico questioned.

Percy stayed silent for a moment. "The Naiads would just tell Chiron and force be back on the surface when I don't come back up."

**"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover said, sitting next to me on the bunk. "I didn't know they'd—that you'd—Honest!"**

**He started to sniffle, and I figured if I didn't cheer him up he'd either start bawling or chewing up my mattress. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset.**

Everyone laughed, even Percy managed a small laugh.

**"It's okay," I lied. "Really. It's fine."**

**Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking… I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."**

**I nodded and tried to ignore the big crater that was opening in my chest.**

"Awww," Gwen said. "That's so sweetly sad!" Percy blushed a bright red.

**"Grover," Chiron said, "perhaps you'd let me have a word with Percy?"**

**"Sure," he sniffled.**

**Chiron waited,**

**"Oh," Grover said. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron." He looked at me miserably. "See? Nobody needs a goat."**

Percy frowned.

**He trotted out the door, blowing his nose on his sleeve.**

"Poor Grover," Gwen said, sadly.

Octavian opened his mouth to same a scathing remark, but one look from Hazel got him to shut his mouth and looked away from everyone.

"You need to teach me how to do that," Reyna whispered to Hazel, causing her to giggle happily.

**Chiron sighed and knelt on his horse legs. "Percy, I don't pretend to understand prophecies."**

**"Yeah," I said. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense."**

**Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself."**

Thalia shrugged as everyone looked at her.

**"Would you have chosen me?"**

**"Frankly, no," he said. "You and Thalia are much alike."**

"Thanks a lot," Percy scoffed.

"Hey!" Thalia protested. "There's nothing wrong with being like me!"

Nico snorted, earning himself a slap to the head from Thalia.

**"Thanks a lot."**

"...well that was weird."

"To say the least, yeah."

"Shut up Thalia,"

**He smiled. "The difference is that you are less sure of yourself than Thalia. That could be good or bad. But one thing I can say: both of you together would be a dangerous thing."**

**"We could handle it."**

**"The way you handled it at the creek tonight?"**

"He nailed you," Nico snickered.

**I didn't answer. He'd nailed me.**

Nico face-palmed.

**"Perhaps it is for the best," Chiron mused. "You can go home to your mother for the holidays. If we need you, we can call."**

**"Yeah," I said. "Maybe."**

**I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and set it on my nightstand. It didn't seem that I'd be using it for anything but writing Christmas cards.**

**When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. "It's no wonder Zoe doesn't want you along, I suppose. Not while you're carrying that particular weapon."**

"Huh?" Percy frowned, looking at his weapon in pen form. "Riptide?"

"Obviously, seeing as you don't have any other weapons," Thalia said, rolling her eyes.

**I didn't understand what he meant. Then I remembered something he'd told me a long time ago, when he first gave me the magic sword: **_**It has a long and tragic history, which we need not go into**_**.**

**I wanted to ask him about that, but then he pulled a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to me. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth… I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."**

**"**_**One shall perish by a parent's hand**_**. Yeah."**

**I didn't need to ask. I knew Chiron's dad was Kronos, **

"WHAT!" the Romans shouted, shocked.

"You need to kill him!" Octavian shrieked. "He will turn on us!"

The Greeks glared ferociously at him, causing to to flinch back.

"It doesn't matter," Percy said coldly. "Continue Thalia,"

Thalia didn't even say a snappy retort, she only continued, anger leaking into her voice.

**the evil Titan Lord himself. The line would make perfect sense if Chiron went on the quest. Kronos didn't care for anyone, including his own children.**

"Some father," Hazel muttered.

**"Chiron," I said. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"**

**His face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. **

The Romans looked surprised.

"Does it actually work?" Reyna asked, eagerly.

The Greeks shrugged.

**"Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush."**

**He said **_**your time**_ **the way people did when they meant **_**your death**_**. I didn't know if Chiron meant it that way, but the look in his eyes made me scared to ask.**

Percy looked at Thalia and Nico fearfully, but they just ignored his look. Percy frowned. _Did something happen...?_

**I stood at the saltwater spring, rubbing Chiron's coin in my hand and trying to figure out what to say to my mom. I really wasn't in the mood to have one more adult tell me that doing nothing was the greatest thing I could do, but I figured my mom deserved an update.**

Percy's eyes widened. "Mom!" he exclaimed, earning some confused looks. "I need to let her know that I'm alright!"

There was a sudden flash of light and a note appeared in Percy's lap, much to everyone's confusion.

Percy blinked, then picked up the note. "_There are no means of communication here, at least until you finish the rest of the books._" Percy read. "...well that sucks."

"Yeah...I'll just continue reading now."

"You do that."

**Finally, I took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."**

**The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow.**

**"Show me Sally Jackson," I said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."**

**And there in the mist was a scene I did not expect. My mom was sitting at our kitchen table with some… guy. **

"Guy?" Percy said, baffled.

Thalia and Nico exchanged unreadable looks. How would Percy take it...like before? Or differently?

**They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. The man was, I don't know, thirty-something, with longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor—like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television.**

Percy frowned. _Who the Hades is that...with my mom..._

**I was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, my mom and the guy were too busy laughing to notice my Iris-message.**

**The guy said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?"**

_AND she's drinking wine!_

**"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want."**

**"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"**

**"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.**

**The actor dude smiled and got up and left.**

**"Mom!" I said.**

"Probably scared the crap out of her." Thalia snickered.

**She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. **

"Looks like I was right!"

"No one disagreed."

"...shut up Nico."

**Finally she focused on me. "Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?"**

**"What are you doing?" I demanded.**

**She blinked. "Homework." **

Percy scoffed. _Sure, 'homework'._

**Then she seemed to understand the look on my face. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul—um, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."**

"...his last name is Blowfish?" Percy blinked. At that, Nico and Thalia burst out laughing. "What?" Percy demanded. "What'd I say!"

This just caused them to laugh harder. After a while, Thalia was calm enough to continue reading.

**"Mr. Blowfish?"**

**"**_**Blofis**_**. He'll be back in a minute, Percy. Tell me what's wrong."**

**She always knew when something was wrong. I told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth.**

Gwen squealed with happiness, causing everyone to clap their hands over their ears and Percy to blush.

**My mother's eyes teared up. I could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for my sake. "Oh, Percy…"**

**"Yeah. So they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home."**

**She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home"—she sighed like she was mad at herself—"as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to."**

Percy blinked, and gaped at the book in shock. "She...she wants me to go?" he muttered.

**I stared at her. "What do you mean?"**

"Looks like you're slower in the future." Thalia teased.

"Shut it."

**"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it."**

"Aww!" Gwen squealed. "That's so true!"

**"You're… you're telling me to go?"**

**My mother pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that… you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this."**

"So that's why she gave you her blessing so quickly." Nico muttered.

"Why would I need her blessing?" Percy questioned.

"Uh..." Nico hesitated. "SPOILER ALERT!"

**"Mom—"**

**The toilet flushed down the hall in our apartment.**

**"I don't have much time," my mom said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I **_**know**_ **you'll do what's best for Annabeth."**

**"How can you be sure?"**

**"Because she'd do the same for you."**

"Well _that's_ true." Thalia said, grinning.

"Love!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Friendship!" Percy shouted back, blushing.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"..."

"That's what I thought."

"..."

**And with that, my mother waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving me with one final image of her new friend, Mr. Blowfish, smiling down at her.**

"Even after she tells you his name is Mr. Blofis, you still call him Mr. Blowfish." Thalia laughed.

"Blowfish sounds better." Percy retorted.

"...I don't have anything to say to that."

"So just continue reading."

**I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember the dream.**

**I was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above me. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired even to cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, I knew she would run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her.**

Percy's eyes widened along with Reyna's.

"So that's what's happened..." she muttered, much to everyone's confusion.

**"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed.**

"Kronos." Dakota growled.

**It wasn't Kronos. **

"So...not Kronos." Dakota said.

"Then who is it?" Hazel questioned.

_Atlas..._ Reyna, Nico, and Thalia thought.

**Kronos's voice was raspy and metallic, like a knife scraped across stone. I'd heard it taunting me many times before in my dreams. But **_**this**_ **voice was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Its force made the ground vibrate.**

Everyone, sans Thalia and Nico, frowned and looked at each other, no doubt wondering who this mysterious Titan was.

**Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."**

"Like he really cares." Percy growled.

Thalia and Nico exchanged looks, Thalia's being a little darker.

**The hypocrite. Like he really cared what happened to her.**

**The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of my dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis—her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains.**

All the girls gasped and the guys's eyes widened.

"So it is possible..." Frank muttered.

**I gasped. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.**

"I can't believe it..." Hazel muttered.

"I didn't think it was possible..." Gwen mumbled.

**"You heard the boy," said the man in the shadows. "Decide!"**

**Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. I didn't know why she just didn't will the chains to burst, or make herself disappear, but she didn't seem able to. **

"Celestial bronze chains nullify their powers," Reyna explained to the confused looks.

**Maybe the chains prevented her, or some magic about this dark, horrible place.**

**The goddess looked at Annabeth and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"**

**"She will die soon," Luke said. "You can save her."**

**Annabeth made a weak sound of protest. My heart felt like it was being twisted into a knot. I wanted to run to her, but I couldn't move.**

Gwen didn't say anything this time, much to Percy's relief.

**"Free my hands," Artemis said.**

**Luke brought out his sword, Backbiter. **

Percy growled in annoyance. _Of course he names his sword Backbiter._

**With one expert strike, he broke the goddess's handcuffs.**

**Artemis ran to Annabeth and took the burden from her shoulders. Annabeth collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the black rocks.**

Hazel gasped with realization and looked at Reyna, who nodded in confirmation.

**The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis."**

**"You surprised me," the goddess said, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."**

**"Indeed it will not," the man said. "Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."**

**Artemis groaned "You know nothing of mercy, you swine."**

**"On that," the man said, "we can agree. Luke, you may kill the girl now."**

"NO!" Percy shouted, getting extremely wrapped up in this chapter.

Thalia bit her lip, refraining from giving anything away. She hated seeing Percy like this.

**"No!" Artemis shouted.**

**Luke hesitated. "She—she may yet be useful, sir. Further bait."**

**"Bah! You truly believe that?"**

**"Yes, General. They will come for her. I'm sure."**

**The man considered. "Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of **_**all**_ **mortals will be meaningless."**

"Luke is a mortal," Nico said. "Doesn't that mean his life is meaningless?"

Percy opened his mouth to say something harshly about Luke, then shook his head. _I can't be thinking about this. This is in the past, even if I don't remember it. I know Annabeth is alive...I can just feel it..._

**Luke gathered up Annabeth's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.**

**"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis said. "Your plan will fail."**

"Yeah it will!" Thalia shouted.

"SPOILERS!" Nico shouted, slapping his hand over her mouth, only to reel it back after a moment in disgust. "EW! Don't lick my hand!"

Thalia stuck her tongue out. "Then don't put it over my mouth." she retorted, then continued reading.

**"How little you know, my young goddess," the man in the shadows said. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure their quest is… challenging."**

**The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse.**

"Wow..." Hazel whispered. "He sounds powerful."

**I woke with a start. I was sure I'd heard a loud banging. I looked around the cabin. It was dark outside. The salt spring still gurgled. No other sounds but the hoot of an owl in the woods and the distant surf on the beach. In the moonlight, on my nightstand was Annabeth's New York Yankees cap. I stared at it for a second and then: BANG BANG.**

"OW!" Nico and Percy shouted, holding their ears in pain. "DON'TYELL!"

"YOU'RE YELLING!" Thalia shouted back.

"SHUT UP!"

"I CAN'T! I NEED READ!"

"THEN READ!"

"FINE!"

**Someone, or something, was pounding on my door. I grabbed Riptide and got out of bed.**

**"Hello?" I called. THUMP. THUMP.**

"DON'T YELL IT!" Percy and Nico shouted again.

"IT'S IN CAPS!"

"JUST READ!"

"FINE!"

**I crept to the door.**

**I uncapped the blade, flung open the door, and found myself face-to-face with a black pegasus.**

The Romans stared at the book in shock.

"A _black_ one?" Reyna questioned.

Percy grinned. "Yep, that's Blackjack."

_**Whoa, boss**_**! Its voice spoke in my mind as it clopped away from the sword blade. **_**I don't wanna be a horse-ke-bob**_**!**

"I think it's so cool that you can speak horse." Hazel grinned. "I wish I could."

"It can get annoying after a while," Percy grumbled, remembering all the times Blackjack or one of the other pegasus had woken him up in the middle of the night asking for sugar cubes.

**Its black wings spread in alarm, and the wind buffeted me back a step,**

**"Blackjack," I said, relieved but a little irritated. "It's the middle of the night!"**

**Blackjack huffed. **_**Ain't either, boss. It's five in the morning. What you still sleeping for**_**?**

Percy rolled his eyes. "Gosh, he _still_ calls me boss?"

**"How many times have I told you? Don't call me boss."**

_**Whatever you say, boss. You're the man. You're my number one**_**. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried not to let the pegasus read my thoughts. **

"It can read your thoughts?" Frank said, slightly shocked.

Percy grumbled in annoyance and nodded.

**That's the problem with being Poseidon's son: since he created horses out of sea foam, I can understand most equestrian animals, but they can understand me, too. Sometimes, like in Blackjacks case, they kind of adopt me.**

**See, Blackjack had been a captive on board Luke's ship last summer, until we'd caused a little distraction that allowed him to escape. I'd really had very little to do with it, seriously, but Blackjack credited me with saving him.**

"Probably because you can understand him," Reyna said reasonably.

"Probably," Percy shrugged.

**"Blackjack," I said, "you're supposed to stay in the stables."**

_**Meh, the stables. You see Chiron staying in the stables?**_

The Greeks burst out laughing at the thought of Chiron in the stables.

**"Well… no."**

_**Exactly. Listen, we got another little sea friend needs your help.**_

**"Again?"**

_**Yeah. I told the hippocampi I'd come get you.**_

**I groaned. Anytime I was anywhere near the beach, the hippocampi would ask me to help them with their problems. And they had a lot of problems. Beached whales, porpoises caught in fishing nets, mermaids with hangnails—they'd call me to come underwater and help.**

"Heh, sucks to be you." Thalia snickered.

"Shut up Thalia," Percy said.

**"All right," I said. "I'm coming."**

_**You're the best, boss.**_

**"And don't call me boss!"**

**Blackjack whinnied softly. It might've been a laugh.**

**I looked back at my comfortable bed. My bronze shield still hung on the wall, dented and unusable. And on my nightstand was Annabeth's magic Yankees cap. On an impulse, I stuck the cap in my pocket. I guess I had a feeling, even then, that I wasn't coming back to my cabin for a long, long time.**

"That sounds nice," Percy grumbled sarcastically.

"That was the end of the chapter," Thalia announced and slapped the book to Percy's chest, making him gasp in pain. "You're reading next."

"Ow," he grumbled, rubbing his chest. "Fine." he grabbed the book, opened to the right page and read, "**I Make A Dangerous Promise**"

Nico tensed. _Great, this chapter_. he thought bitterly.

* * *

**WOO! END! **

**I'm so sorry it took so long, but this took 30 OpenOffice pages!**

**Please review!**


	10. I Make A Dangerous Promise

**Alrighty! Thank you so much for all the wonder reviews I got in the last chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Previously:_

_"That was the end of the chapter," Thalia announced and slapped the book to Percy's chest, making him gasp in pain. "You're reading next."_

_"Ow," he grumbled, rubbing his chest. "Fine." he grabbed the book, opened to the right page and read, "__**I Make A Dangerous Promise**__"_

_**Now:**_

Nico tensed. _Great, this chapter._ he thought bitterly.

"**I Make A Dangerous Promise**" Percy read.

**Blackjack gave me a ride down the beach, and I have to admit it was cool. Being on a flying horse, skimming over the waves at a hundred miles an hour with the wind in my hair and the sea spray in my face—hey, it beats water-skiing any day.**

"Sounds awesome," Hazel smiled.

"It is," Percy smiled, closing his eyes, remembering the feeling...

**Here. Blackjack slowed and turned in a circle. Straight down.**

**"Thanks." I tumbled off his back and plunged into the icy sea.**

**I'd gotten more comfortable doing stunts like that the past couple of years. I could pretty much move however I wanted to underwater, just by willing the ocean currents to change around me and propel me along, I could breathe underwater, no problem, and my clothes never got wet unless I wanted them to.**

"That's just...awesome, for one word," Frank said.

"Very," Percy grinned.

"Jeez, I feel jealous," Nico complained, though there was amused shining in his eyes.

**I shot down into the darkness.**

**Twenty, thirty, forty feet. The pressure wasn't uncomfortable. I'd never tried to push it—to see if there was a limit to how deep I could dive. I knew most regular humans couldn't go past two hundred feet without crumpling like an aluminum can. I should've been blind, too, this deep in the water at night, but I could see the heat from living forms, and the cold of the currents. It's hard to describe. It wasn't like regular seeing, but I could tell where everything was.**

"Like a radar," Thalia commented.

"Nah, more like a sonar." Percy said.

**As I got closer to the bottom, I saw three hippocampi—**

"What are hippocampi?" Gwen asked curiously.

**fish-tailed horses—**

"Those."

"Oh...they sounds pretty." Gwen smiled, wishing to see one.

"They are," Percy grinned.

**swimming in a circle around an overturned boat. The hippocampi were beautiful to watch. Their fish tails shimmered in rainbow colors, glowing phosphorescent. Their manes were white, and they were galloping through the water the way nervous horses do in a thunderstorm. Something was upsetting them.**

Percy frowned.

**I got closer and saw the problem. A dark shape—some kind of animal—was wedged halfway under the boat and tangled in a fishing net, one of those big nets they use on trawlers to catch everything at once. **

"I hate those things," Gwen and Percy growled, then looked at each other surprised at saying the same thing.

**I hated those things. It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals. When the nets got tangled, some lazy fishermen would just cut them loose and let the trapped animals die.**

"It's so cruel!" Gwen and Percy exclaimed at the same time. "How could people do that to those innocent animals! …..okay this is getting weird...okay stop copying me. No, _you_ stop copying _me._ I'm not copying you, you're copying me! Okay...I'll just shut up now..." they both abruptly stopped talking and awkwardly looked away from each other and everyone else's looks.

Slowly, one-by-one, everyone started chuckling. Soon, it was full blown laughter.

"Yeah, yeah." Percy said, rolling his eyes. "Just shut up and let me read."

It took a while, but finally it was quiet enough for Percy to continue.

**Apparently this poor creature had been mucking around on the bottom of Long Island Sound and had somehow gotten itself tangled in the net of this sunken fishing boat. It had tried to get out and managed to get even more hopelessly stuck, shifting the boat in the process. Now the wreckage of the hull, which was resting against a big rock, was teetering and threatening to collapse on top of the tangled animal.**

"That poor animal," Hazel frowned. "I wonder what it is."

**The hippocampi were swimming around frantically, wanting to help but not sure how. One was trying to chew the net, but hippocampi teeth just aren't meant for cutting rope. **

"Hippocampi aren't all that...smart." Percy said, lamely.

**Hippocampi are really strong, but they don't have hands, and they're not (shhh) all that smart.**

Everyone laughed.

"Way to repeat yourself, Percy," Thalia laughed.

"Oh shut up," Percy said, and continued reading before Thalia could give a retort.

_**Free it, lord!**_** A hippocampus said when it saw me. The others joined in, asking the same thing.**

**I swam in for a closer look at the tangled creature. At first I thought it was a young hippocampus. I'd rescued several of them before. But then I heard a strange sound, something that did not belong underwater:**

**"Mooooooo!"**

"Moo?" Dakota questioned.

"Moo," Percy confirmed, though slightly confused.

**I got next to the thing and saw that it was a cow. I mean… I'd heard of sea cows, like manatees and stuff, but this really was a cow with the back end of a serpent. The front half was a calf—a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle—and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel.**

Reyna's eyes widened. _Is that the..._ she looked at Thalia and Nico with wide eyes and they noticed her look before giving a small laugh.

**"Whoa, little one," I said. "Where did you come from?"**

**The creature looked at me sadly. "Moooo!"**

**But I couldn't understand its thoughts. I only speak horse.**

_**We don't know what it is, lord,**_** one of the hippocampi said. **_**Many strange things are stirring.**_

Reyna's eyes narrowed. _Stirring..._

**"Yeah," I murmured. "So I've heard."**

**I uncapped Riptide, and the sword grew to full length in my hands, its bronze blade gleaming in the dark.**

**The cow serpent freaked out and started struggling against the net, its eyes full of terror. "Whoa!" I said. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me cut the net."**

"That poor cow...serpent...thing..." Hazel said.

**But the cow serpent thrashed around and got even more tangled. The boat started to tilt, stirring up the muck on the sea bottom and threatening to topple onto the cow serpent. The hippocampi whinnied in a panic and thrashed in the water, which didn't help.**

"Poor thing," Gwen frowned.

**"Okay, okay!" I said. I put away the sword and started speaking as calmly as I could so the hippocampi and the cow serpent would stop panicking. I didn't know if it was possible to get stampeded underwater, but I didn't really want to find out. "It's cool. No sword. See? No sword. Calm thoughts. Sea grass. Mama cows. Vegetarianism."**

Everyone laughed and Percy shook his head at his future self.

"Only you Percy," Thalia laughed.

**I doubted the cow serpent understood what I was saying, but it responded to the tone of my voice. The hippocampi were still skittish, but they stopped swirling around me quite so fast.**

_**Free it, lord!**_** they pleaded.**

**"Yeah," I said. "I got that part. I'm thinking."**

Thalia and Nico gasped dramatically, earning themselves a glare from the son of Poseidon.

**But how could I free the cow serpent when she (I decided it was probably a "she") **

Everyone laughed again.

**panicked at the sight of a blade? It was like she'd seen swords before and knew how dangerous they were.**

_Especially if it's been killed by one, _Reyna thought. One look from Thalia, and Reyna knew that she wast thinking the same thing.

**"All right," I told the hippocampi. "I need all of you to push exactly the way I tell you."**

**First we started with the boat. It wasn't easy, but with the strength of three horsepower, we managed to shift the wreckage so it was no longer threatening to collapse on the baby cow serpent. **

"That's so sweet of you!" Gwen squealed, hugging Percy, who was sitting next to her.

"Uh..." Percy's face had a red tint to it, earning laughs from everyone else.

**Then I went to work on the net, untangling it section by section, getting lead weights and fishing hooks straightened out, yanking out knots around the cow serpent's hooves. It took forever—I mean, it was worse than the time I'd had to untangle all my video game controller wires. **

"Gods, I hate that." Nico complained.

**The whole time, I kept talking to the cow fish, telling her everything was okay while she mooed and moaned.**

**"It's okay, Bessie," I said. **

"...Bessie?" everyone questioned.

"It seems like a good cow name?" Percy said, sounding more like he was asking a question then stating a...statement.

**Don't ask me why I started calling her that. It just seemed like a good cow name. **

"Don't repeat yourself, Percy." Nico said, shaking his head.

Percy blushed and shrugged. "Can't blame me," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to say."

**"Good cow. Nice cow."**

**Finally, the net came off and the cow serpent zipped through the water and did a happy somersault.**

**The hippocampi whinnied with joy. **_**Thank you, lord!**_

**"Moooo!" The cow serpent nuzzled me and gave me the big brown eyes.**

"Awww," Gwen cooed. "That's soooo adorable!"

**"Yeah," I said. "That's okay. Nice cow. Well… stay out of trouble."**

**Which reminded me, I'd been underwater how long? An hour, at least. **

"You don't even know how long you stay underwater?" Dakota asked, dropping his kool-aid red jaw.

"Erm...no."

**I had to get back to my cabin before Argus or the harpies discovered I was breaking curfew.**

**I shot to the surface and broke through. Immediately, Blackjack zoomed down and let me catch hold of his neck. He lifted me into the air and took me back toward the shore.**

_**Success, boss?**_

**"Yeah. We rescued a baby… something or other. Took forever. Almost got stampeded."**

Percy shuddered, earning himself a few laughs.

_**Good deeds are always dangerous, boss. You saved my sorry mane, didn't you?**_

**I couldn't help thinking about my dream, with Annabeth crumpled and lifeless in Luke's arms. Here I was rescuing baby monsters, but I couldn't save my friend.**

Percy frowned, staring at the sentence.

"You better not be thinking about that," Thalia warned. Percy didn't say anything for a while. Then, he shook his head and started reading again.

Thalia and Nico looked at each other, frowning.

**As Blackjack flew back toward my cabin, I happened to glance at the dining pavilion. I saw a figure—a boy hunkered down behind a Greek column, like he was hiding from someone.**

**It was Nico, **

"Nico?" everyone questioned.

"What?" Nico muttered.

**but it wasn't even dawn yet. Nowhere near time for breakfast. What was he doing up there?**

"Eavesdropping," Thalia said, giving Nico a mock-glare. "Did you ever learn not to eavesdrop?"

Nico shrugged.

**I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was more time for Nico to tell me about his Mythomagic game.**

Nico blushed and groaned in embarrassment as several people burst out laughing.

**But something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was crouching.**

**"Blackjack," I said, "set me down over there, will you? Behind that column."**

**I almost blew it.**

**I was coming up the steps behind Nico. He didn't see me at all. He was behind a column, peeking around the corner, all his attention focused on the dining area. I was five feet away from him, and I was about to say **_**What are you doing?**_** real loud, **

"Jeez, that wouldn't scared the shi-"

"Language," Reyna reprimanded.

"-tashi mushrooms out of me." Nico finished, grinning. "Couldn't let me finish."

Everyone burst out laughing, earning a glare from Reyna, though it was only half-hearted.

**when it occurred to me that he was pulling a Grover: he was spying on the Hunters.**

Silence...

Then Thalia and Nico burst out laughing, earning themselves laughter from everyone else.

"P-pullling a G-Grover?" Thalia laughed. "Priceless!"

Percy grinned. "Sounds good enough."

**There were voices—two girls talking at one of the dining tables. At this ungodly hour of the morning? Well, unless you're the goddess of dawn, I guess.**

**I took Annabeth's magic cap out of my pocket and put it on.**

**I didn't feel any different, but when I raised my arms I couldn't see them. I was invisible.**

"Really?" Nico said, his voice oozing sarcasm. "You turn invisible while wearing an _invisibility_ cap? Who knew!"

"Shut up Nico." Percy muttered, wondering how such a cheerful boy could turn into a sarcastic teen.

**I crept up to Nico and sneaked around him. I couldn't see the girls very well in the dark, but I knew their voices: Zoe and Bianca. **

"Why are they out there so late?"

**It sounded like they were arguing.**

**"It cannot be cured," Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate."**

**"But how did it happen?" Bianca asked.**

**"A foolish prank," Zoe growled. "Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it."**

Percy's eyes widened, along with everyone else's.

"But...that doesn't seem like the Stolls's style..." Percy muttered. "They would never intentionally hurt someone."

"All will be revealed later," Thalia said. "Percy, continue."

**"That's terrible!"**

**"She will live," Zoe said. "But she'll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go. It's up to me… and thee."**

"Me and thee..." Nico said, trailing off grinning.

"It sounds weird when you say it like that," Frank said, earning himself a few laughs.

**"But the prophecy," Bianca said. "If Phoebe can't go, we only have four. We'll have to pick another."**

**"There is no time," Zoe said. "We must leave at first light. That's immediately. Besides, the prophecy said we would lose one."**

Nico tensed.

**"In the land without rain," Bianca said, "but that can't be here."**

"Sadly," Nico muttered.

Thalia looked at him sadly. _He's probably thinking about Bianca._

Nico noticed the look, but took it differently. He glared at her. _I don't want her stinking pity._

**"It might be," Zoe said, though she didn't sound convinced. "The camp has magic borders. Nothing, not even weather, is allowed in without permission. It could be a land without rain."**

**"But—"**

**"Bianca, hear me." Zoe's voice was strained. "I… I can't explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous. They would meet an end worse than Phoebe's. I don't want Chiron choosing a camper as our fifth companion. And… I don't want to risk another Hunter."**

**Bianca was silent. "You should tell Thalia the rest of your dream."**

"She should've," Thalia muttered to herself.

**"No. It would not help."**

**"But if your suspicions are correct, about the General—"**

"Did she say it with an accent?" Thalia asked, lips twitching.

Percy snorted but Nico just stared blankly at a tree.

**"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoe said. She sounded really anguished. "We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking."**

**Nico scooted out of their way. He was faster than me.**

"Not anymore," Thalia snickered. Percy grinned, but Nico didn't show any signs of humor. Hazel, Thalia, and Percy looked at him concerned, but he didn't do or say anything.

**As the girls sprinted down the steps, Zoe almost ran into me. She froze, her eyes narrowing. Her hand crept toward her bow, **

Percy sucked in a deep breath, wondering if he was going to be revealed. The Romans, sans Reyna and Octavian, looked like they were on the edge of their seats, waiting with anticipation, but...they were on the ground...

**but then Bianca said, "The lights of the Big House are on. Hurry!"**

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods for Bianca," he said.

Nico tensed and glared at a tree.

**And Zoe followed her out of the pavilion.**

**I could tell what Nico was thinking. **

"MINDREADER!" Dakota screamed, pointing his finger right between Percy's eyes, making Percy cross his eyes, trying to see it.

Everyone burst out laughing at Dakota's accusation and Percy's face.

**He took a deep breath and was about to run after his sister when I took off the invisibility cap and said, "Wait."**

"Probably scared the crap out of him," Thalia sniggered.

Nico didn't say anything, much to the concern of his friends.

**He almost slipped on the icy steps as he spun around to find me. "Where did you come from?"**

**"I've been here the whole time. Invisible."**

**He mouthed the word **_**invisible**_**. "Wow. Cool."**

**"How did you know Zoe and your sister were here?"**

"He pulled a Grover, Percy." Gwen grinned. "That's how he knew."

Everyone laughed except Nico, who didn't show any signs of emotion on his face, even though inside, he was cursing himself over and over again for pushing Percy to make that stupid promise.

**He blushed. "I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't… I don't sleep too well at camp. **

"Why not?" Hazel frowned.

"Nightmares," Nico whispered, speaking for the first time in a while.

**So I heard footsteps, and them whispering. And so I kind of followed."**

**"And now you're thinking about following them on the quest," I guessed.**

Percy frowned. He would not want Nico to follow them on their quest. Just imagine what Zoe or Artemis would do if they found out...

**"How did you know that?"**

**"Because if it was my sister, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't."**

"Percy," Thalia said, shaking her head. "You and your stupid flaw."

"Huh?" Percy said, confused. "What flaw?"

"SPOILERS!" Nico shouted before Thalia could say anything.

**He looked defiant. "Because I'm too young?"**

**"Because they won't let you. They'll catch you and send you back here. And… yeah, because you're too young. **

Nico grimaced. Oh how he hated that. Why did he have to be the youngest?

**You remember the manticore? There will be lots more like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes will die."**

**He shoulders sagged. He shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe you're right. But, but you can go for me."**

"W-what?" Percy spluttered. "I can't go! The Hunters hate boys!"

"Not all Hunters," Thalia grinned, ignoring the confused looks.

**"Say what?"**

**"You can turn invisible. You can go!"**

**"The Hunters don't like boys," I reminded him. "If they find out—"**

"Don't repeat yourself Percy," Nico grinned.

"Haven't you already said that?" Percy questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Don't repeat yourself, Nico."

**"Don't let them find out. Follow them invisibly. Keep an eye on my sister! You have to. Please?"**

Nico looked down guiltily._ I never shouldn't gotten out of the cabin...I should've never used_

**"Nico—"**

**"You're planning to go anyway, aren't you?"**

**I wanted to say no. But he looked me in the eyes, and I somehow couldn't lie to him.**

Nico gave a flicker of a smile.

**"Yeah," I said. "I have to find Annabeth. I have to help, even if they don't want me to."**

**"I won't tell on you," he said. "But you have to promise to keep my sister safe."**

Nico flinched. _Sorry Percy...I hadn't realized how stupid I was..._

**"I… that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. Besides, she's got Zoe, Grover, and Thalia—"**

"This won't turn out too well," Frank muttered.

**"Promise," he insisted.**

**"I'll do my best. I promise that."**

**"Get going, then!" he said. "Good luck!"**

**It was crazy. I wasn't packed. I had nothing but the cap and the sword and the clothes I was wearing. I was supposed to be going home to Manhattan this morning. "Tell Chiron—"**

**"I'll make something up." Nico smiled crookedly. "I'm good at that. Go on!"**

"What did you say?" Gwen asked curiously.

Nico opened his mouth to respond, then she frowned. "That's weird...I don't remember..."

**I ran, putting on Annabeth's cap. As the sun came up, I turned invisible. I hit the top of Half-Blood Hill in time to see the camp's van disappearing down the farm road, probably Argus taking the quest group into the city. After that they would be on their own.**

**I felt a twinge of guilt, and stupidity, too. How was I supposed to keep up with them. Run?**

Thalia and Nico burst out laughing.

"You can barely outrun the Nymphs," Thalia laughed. "What makes you think you can catch up to a truck?"

"The Nymphs are fast!" Percy protested.

"Not when they're in tree form." Nico sniggered.

**Then I heard the beating of huge wings. Blackjack landed next to me. He began casually nuzzling a few tufts of grass that stuck through the ice.**

_**If I was guessing, boss, I'd say you need a getaway horse. You interested?**_

Percy grinned.

"Awesome pegasus," Frank commented.

"I know..."

**A lump of gratitude stuck in my throat, but I managed to say, "Yeah. Let's fly."**

"That's the end of the chapter," Percy announced after a moment of silence. "Who's going to read next?"

"He will," Gwen said, taking the book from Percy and giving it to Dakota.

"What?" Dakota blinked, looking at the book like it was disease. "Do I _have_ to?"

"Yes." Gwen said bluntly. "Now read."

* * *

**DONE! Yes yes, I know I'm a week late. And I'm sorry for that. But I was extremely busy. Still am, as a matter of fact.**

**I will try very hard to update once a week, but if I don't, I'm really sorry. I just made the play for out school, so I'll have practice for that. I also have 2 reports and tons of homework to do.**

**I truly am sorry. I hope this chapter made it up?**

**Oh! And before I forget! Who do you want me to bring in next? It can by anyone **_**except**_** Annabeth, Jason, Piper, and Leo. So for example: Grover, ghost Bianca, etc.  
**


	11. TEMPORARY Hiatus

**Hello, yes, I do know this isn't a chapter and I'm really sorry for that.**

**This story is now on a TEMPORARY hiatus. Sorry!**


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